To Truly See
by Ninqe
Summary: Seto Kaiba is a blind man, not in the sense of sight, but in the essence life itself. But when Kaiba becomes blind, will he finally understand what it means to truly see?
1. Two Sides of a Jerk

**Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Yu-Gi-Oh! Characters, places, card games, ECT. I was inspired to write this after reading "The Cay" which I do not own. Some ideas may have originated from that book. But I do many original characters, but the only one that you really need to know about is Adriana Wood.**

**I've decided after much debate to post my story, To Truly See, on this sight, which was a huge hit on another web sight. This story was first posted on April 19, 2004. (I did not actually post the first posting until April 20th, but the very first post I made concerning To Truly See was made on that date, so I call it the birth date.) I only say this because I just want everyone to understand that I've worked hard on this story for 8 months (and it's still not completed) and to make sure none of you guys think I'm copying off some other girl named Ninqe on another web sight… (Yes, that is me… lol!) **

**You really don't have to read this if you don't want to, but I'm just going to knock out the warnings and all that other stuff.**

**This story does have violent parts, and one kind of disturbing scene, so readers are cautioned, because once we get further into the story, there will be a few violent scenes, and I just wanted to be on the safe side. There are NO sexual activities in this story, there might be a kissing scene, but that's it. I don't write those kinds of stories (sorry to the people who were disappointed when they read that… it's just the way I write)**

**This is not an adventure story either, and it is SLIGHTLY AU… but hardly because everything that has happened on the show has all ready happened, and there are no changes to that… but here there will be no evil psychos taking over the world. But there will be character development and change… so you guys are warned. **

**I've done my best to keep the characters IC, but my apologies if I didn't completely nail them… I'm not perfect after all.**

**So that was one long introduction… for those of you who read this blurb, thank you for taking the time to read it (and making it seem like I didn't waste a good ten or twenty minutes typing this up) **

**And please review, I will of course reply to your responses, and I will take criticism (I mean it… I want to be a writer when I grow up, and I could really use the critiquing) but I do not accept flames, I think they're rude sometimes… but if you must flame me or this story, I will just ignore it… all right?**

**NOTE: Revisions have been made to this chapter on 6/27/05. I felt to continue this story… I needed to fix a few mistakes that I made in previous posts. This story should be revised within a couple of days if all goes according to plan.**

**Now that that's all squared away and I've made myself look like a total idiot… let's get onto the first chapter, shall we?**

Sometimes, it seems as though we can see the world perfectly, the beautiful colors, the trees on a distant hill, the fluffy clouds passing by, the way the golden green grass sways in the meadows, even the way waves slowly caress the sandy beaches on a sunlit day. And yet, other things we are so blind to, things that are beyond the human eye and are hidden in something deeper. Even though the blind cannot see, sometimes they see so much more than we can ever see even with our eyes.

Twirling between two slim fingers, a sleek black pen's tip swayed up and down methodically in a repeating pattern. The pen itself was something out of a pen collector's dream; the black ink seemed to have been coated onto the pen with delicacy and precision and on the side of the pen, the golden initials "KC" was engraved in the side.

If you looked closely enough at it, you would notice that the black ink had another near invisible layer on it; a softer gray section on the pen showed intricate vines crisscrossing each other with tiny leaves poking out of the vines. If you looked even closer, you would notice the miniscule bite marks on the very top of the pen, looking not haphazardly chewed… but it was as though someone had merely nibbled on the edge, nothing more.

The pen was carefully hidden underneath the large oak table, as its owner played around with it. He knew it was foolish; after all, he was taught not to be playing around with pens during board meetings. And yet, he didn't see any reason not too. Most of the men were older than him, and very few men had their hands visible and neatly folded on top of the table. As long as no one saw the pen in his hands, there was really no reason why he should stop.

"Mr. Kaiba, you've a very powerful man… probably the most powerful in the economic world. To you, funding this project would be nothing; it would be like asking the common man for a donation of ten dollars. This project will help children across the world; people who have been sightless for so long could have the gift of seeing the world through new eyes. Your late father supported our research for quite some time before the war broke out, and we would be honored if you supported us as well. We are at the testing process with these new products, and so far eight out of ten people who tried the surgery out regained their vision. This product is almost ready for the market… but we need some donations so we can ship it to hospitals worldwide. Mr. Kaiba… I come before to ask, if your company would be interested in donating to our company so we would be able to successfully send our lazars to hospitals to repair vision to millions of blind people."

The man who was giving the speech humbly bowed towards Kaiba and his Kaiba Corp. employees and took his seat at the opposite end of the table. There was a pregnant pause that settled in the room as Kaiba thought about the balding man's presentation.

"Mr. Andersen, I'm confident your invention will indeed help millions of people, but there's just one problem. This is a _business_ world and there is no way that Kaiba Corp. would be profiting from this scheme at all. This sounds a lot like begging for money to me, and if you wanted a donation, you should have asked my secretary to put a little tin can on her desk so people could slip you a few dollars," Kaiba's steely gaze searched over the man, who opened his mouth to say something, but Kaiba was not finished, "And if you need more money than that… you will need to come up with a proposal that we can both profit from, not just yourselves. Until you have something worth listening to, I don't want to see you in this room. Am I clear?"

"Yes Mr. Kaiba… very clear. I… will return once my men and I have worked out a plan where the both of us can profit through this. Thank you for the time," Mr. Andersen responded in a steady voice. At first, it looked like he was starting to gather his things to head out of the board room, however, once his papers were neatly stacked he turned to face Kaiba once again, "But… I must ask you something."

"Then ask it if it's worth my time. I have some phone calls I have to make that can't wait much longer," the pen in Kaiba's fingers began to twist at a faster pace.

"Have you ever met a blind person?" Mr. Andersen questioned as Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"I don't see the relevance of this question, Mr. Andersen," Kaiba's voice was becoming dangerously icy, a frosty warning subconsciously registering in everyone's mind.

"I had a feeling you hadn't. It's in my opinion that you should donate to this cause without profit… my daughter is in fact blind and all she's ever wanted was to see again. I want to give that to her… and I don't want to have to make her wait for the rest of her life," Mr. Andersen explained as Kaiba stopped messing around with the pen.

"She can wait a little longer. And if you're so anxious to let her see… why don't you have her be a test subject? I don't see why you should be so willing to give other children their sight but not your daughter's. Blind people can live without sight; your daughter is living proof. I'm going ask you to leave my office, your time is up and I now have to go meet with other people."

Everyone in the boardroom knew just by the tone of Kaiba's voice that the meeting had ended. Kaiba's employees began to gather up their things so they could get back to their busy lives, however Mr. Andersen remained where he was.

"I'm beginning to wonder who's blinder… my daughter or you. Surely you are not so blind as to think only of yourself and your company? Don't you ever think about the other people who are suffering while you're swimming in riches? Why don't you think about others beside yourself? Perhaps it's because you have never seen the world through my daughter's eyes… and you don't understand that there's more to life than just yourself… but you can't see that because you're too near sighted. Too blind. It's a sad world you live in… Mr. Kaiba. Good day."

Before Kaiba could even yell at the man for being disrespectful, or even get a chance to defend himself, the man swiftly left the boardroom, leaving Kaiba alone with no one to keep him company but his pen and his papers.

He shrugged and placed his Kaiba Corp. papers into his folder before snorting, "What a waste of breathe and energy."

With that said, the young sixteen-year-old CEO departed from the room to continue on with his hectic day at Kaiba Corporation Headquarters.

Kaiba threw his weary body onto the couch downstairs in his living room with a loud sigh. Another hard day had gone by, but yet another would be coming around the corner the next day. It was like a never ending circle, get up, work, file papers, work, come up with new prototypes and programs, work, eat, work, yell at secretaries for taking poorly scribbled messages, and then finally getting seven hours of relief at home with Mokuba, though he usually slept six out of those seven hours.

At least tomorrow he would be able to break free from that cycle for at least a few days, tomorrow was the start of another week of school.

Kaiba checked the gold watch clasped around his wrist and shook his head. He had been hoping to leave his office before it got too late so he would be able to spend a little time with Mokuba. He doubted his little brother would be awake at one in the morning.

"Mokuba," Kaiba murmured glancing over to the couch in the opposite corner of the room. His eyes softened as he looked down at his little brother, curled in a tight ball on the couch, clutching his locket desperately, and sleeping in peace. It didn't take Kaiba even just a second to figure out why his brother was down here… he had tried to wait for Kaiba to come home again. Kaiba pushed his body off of the couch and sat in front of his little brother with a small smile on his face.

Mokuba was an image of pure innocence, with messy soft raven colored hair falling down to his back, his misty blue-grey eyes sparkled with joy whenever his older brother had even just a minute alone with him, and his smooth boyish face looked gentle and calm in his slumber.

Kaiba laid a hand on Mokuba's forehead gently brushing away the stray bangs on his brother's forehead. Mokuba stirred in his sleep and his eyelids cracked open to see his big brother sitting before him… at last.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried throwing his arms around Kaiba's weary body, "You're home! I was waiting for you! I made you some dinner! I didn't burn anything this time!"

"That's great, Mokuba," Kaiba said gently forcing a smile as Mokuba sprang off the couch eagerly.

"Come on! You have to try it!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly, but his face fell seeing Kaiba on his knees and his eyelids falling, "Or… you could just sleep."

Quickly, Kaiba shook his head, not wanting to hurt his brother's feelings. Mokuba smiled and led Kaiba into the kitchen where the cold food sat. Evidently, Mokuba wasn't expecting him to arrive this late. A nice plate was filled with cooked fried eggs, buttered toast, even dry cold bacon and a glass of warm milk to wash it all down with. Kaiba chuckled as he ruffled Mokuba's hair.

"Thanks, kid… for the breakfast."

Mokuba scowled and tilted his head upwards, "It's dinner… I didn't know how to make your potatoes you like so much… but I knew how to make eggs and stuff for breakfast so I… do you like it?"

"Yeah kid." Kaiba sat down in front of his food, and then looked back up at Mokuba, "Maybe you should go to bed. You have school tomorrow," Kaiba said firmly as Mokuba pouted.

"Aww, please! You're never home! Can I please stay up with you?" Mokuba pleaded beseechingly using the lethal 'puppy dog eyes' on his brother.

"The answer is no, we'll have time tomorrow," Kaiba sighed as Mokuba hung his head dejectedly before the thumping of stairs could be heard all the way from the kitchen.

He knew Mokuba was upset with him; work had gotten so busy with the new openings of Kaiba Land and took over some of the responsibilities Mokuba had because his little brother was beginning to fall behind in school. Five minutes was not enough time to spend alone with Mokuba, and one hour was hardly any better.

Kaiba shook that thought out of his head and turned back to the food in front of him. Mokuba was smart… if he had tried to throw away his food, surely his brother would notice? He didn't want to hurt his brother anymore than he already had, with all of his insane work hours, always leaving his brother behind…

Kaiba ate a few bites of the cold meal, sighing heavily. If it was anyone else who made the meal, he would have rejected it, not caring in the least bit whether he hurt his or her feelings or not. But he made a promise, a vow that would not be broken. He made a promise that he would protect his little brother, and to open his heart up to him… even though he sealed it off to anyone else. He had Mokuba… he didn't need anyone else. In his mind he knew that, and he had his reasons for blocking everyone else off. All he needed was his little brother, and he could live a perfectly happy life.

Kaiba awoke the next morning to find his face in his plate almost completely filled with food Mokuba had made for him.

"Seto!" cried Mokuba racing into the kitchen as Kaiba quickly wiped away the eggs sticking to his hair, "What happened?"

"I fell asleep, I guess," Kaiba mused as he stretched out as checked his watch, "I've got to get ready. I'm late… and you've got to get to school. I'll get someone else to drive me, someone should be waiting with the limo to drive you."

"But Seto! Wait… can we have breakfast together or something? I'll make you some warmer eggs!" Mokuba pleaded desperately as Kaiba paused at the doorway for a second.

"Please…"

Kaiba forced a smile and turned to face Mokuba, whose face was all ready brightening, as if having his brother even look at him was a treasured moment.

"Tell you what… I'll pick you up during your lunch hour, and we can go out to eat. Just the two of us… what do you say?" Kaiba asked as Mokuba's face broke out into an excited grin.

"You mean it!" when Kaiba nodded, Mokuba dashed over to his brother and hugged him tightly around the waist, "Thank you! I'll see you at eleven! Bye Seto!"

And somehow… making Mokuba get that happy over something so trivial seemed to put Kaiba in a better mood before school.

"Hey, Kaiba!" chirped Yugi cheerfully as Kaiba climbed out of his limo and glared into Yugi's innocent amethyst eyes with his cold blue orbs.

Yugi barely came up to Kaiba's waist and was often mistaken for a sixth grader, but Kaiba knew better. Yugi was one of the top duelists in the world and was rather brave even though Kaiba hated to admit it. Yugi's wild bangs stuck out from his black hair that stuck up like a star outlined in maroon colors. Yugi was almost the complete opposite of Kaiba. Yugi's eyes were so welcoming, so naïve, but Kaiba's… they were so cold and ruthless, so tough and forbidding.

Kaiba's height loomed over the crowds and reached an alarming height of 6'1. Kaiba's hair was as brown as dark chocolate, and stopped at the end of his neck, much unlike Yugi's wild colorful hair.

Kaiba ignored Yugi and brushed past him, almost whacking Yugi to the ground from the force that Kaiba had knocked against the smaller boy. But Yugi didn't give up.

"Wait, I want to talk to you," Yugi said jogging beside Kaiba to keep up with his long strides.

"About what?" Kaiba grumbled as he continued to walk to the science room.

"Well, I was wondering how you were doing…" Yugi trailed off as Kaiba rolled his eyes in annoyance, "And…"

"I don't have time for this Yugi, I have other things to do rather than listen to you…" Kaiba said icily as Yugi shrugged and continued to walk with Kaiba.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to the game shop after school tomorrow-"

"I have meetings on Tuesday," Kaiba interrupted as Yugi nodded.

"Oh, well do you want to hang out sometime? Maybe after school?" Yugi offered as Kaiba sighed.

"When will you take a hint that I don't want to be friends with you?" Kaiba growled with a snap, "I don't want to hear your friendship speeches, your heart of the cards sayings, or your pathetic friendships with your friends, ok? So quit pestering me!"

A small shadow of hurt passed over Yugi's face and he stopped walking with Kaiba as Joey came up from behind him. Kaiba seemed oblivious to Yugi's hurt expression… he just kept on walking as though nothing had happened.

Joey was one of Yugi's best friends of all time, his large blonde hair trailed over his honey brown eyes and his smooth peach skin. He was just barely above Kaiba's shoulders, a pretty good height considering they were all in high school. Joey approached his friend with a nudge.

"Hey Yug'" Joey exclaimed in a New York accent, "What's up? Kaiba giving you a hard time again?"

"No…" Yugi muttered, "I just wish Kaiba would be a little nicer to us."

"He's a class A jerk," Joey explained simply, "You can't really change people who think that they're at the top of the food chain just 'cause they're at the top of the food chain."

Yugi shrugged off Joey's comment easily, he used to his friend's hateful words towards Kaiba, one of Joey's worst enemies.

"Na… Mokuba loves Kaiba… there's more to Kaiba that we don't see at school," Yugi responded thoughtfully. Seeing Joey's disbelieving expression, Yugi quickly steered the topic of discussion away from Kaiba, "Come on, let's just get to class, I don't want another detention for being late to class… Grandpa said if I get another one I won't be able to get anymore free cards from the shop anymore…"

The day went on about as it usually did, for Kaiba at least. He did his best to avoid the crowds. Kaiba hated the way he would be stared at as he walked down the halls and he almost hated the murmurs that people whispered as he walked down the hallway. His new method of glaring nastily at those people quickly shut them up.

But there was always Yugi, always trying to get him to join his group of friends. Joey and Tristan seemed to hate Kaiba, and celebrated whenever Kaiba rejected their offers of friendship. It didn't bother Kaiba in the least bit; he could care less about Yugi and his friends, like Tea for instance. She was too perky sometimes, and was determined to help Yugi recruit Kaiba into their group. As for the albino… Bakura seemed to be pretty much neutral, if Kaiba was with the group or wasn't, it didn't seem to bother him too much, and he didn't bother Kaiba. Out of Yugi's friends, Bakura would probably be the one person Kaiba would be able to put up with during a school project.

It was like they had some sort of strange weird, unspoken understanding with each other. Bakura was quiet, never getting in Kaiba's way, or saying anything that would annoy him. Bakura didn't seem like a full-fledged member of Yugi's tight group, in fact he never really socialized much with the group. He would be polite, sit with them at lunch, add in a few comments, but most of the time Bakura was an outcast, seemingly preferring his alone time, not all the time, but sometimes. Like Kaiba.

There they had their real understanding.

Kaiba took his usual seat at the corner lunch table setting up his laptop and turning on his cell phone. He at least had some respect for the teachers and didn't do his work during their pointless classes, but during study hall and lunch there was no one stopping him from doing his work for Kaiba Corp.

"Three… two… one," Kaiba counted down quietly as he turned around to find his expected guest, Yugi Muto.

"Hello," Yugi greeted him brightly, as usual, "Do you want to sit with us-"

"No."

"Are you sure you want to stay here alo-"

"Yes."

"Ok then can I-?"

"Fine."

"Ok thanks!" Yugi exclaimed brightly sitting next to a bewildered Kaiba. What was Yugi doing? Yugi was supposed to say, "Ok then, I'll see you later!" after he asked if he wanted to sit with him at study hall. Why was he sitting next to him?

"What are you doing?" Kaiba spat as Yugi smiled.

"Well, you seem to have memorized my questions, so I changed them. Instead of asking you 'Do you want to sit with us at study hall instead?' I was going to ask if I could sit with you. You said fine, so now I'm sitting with you," Yugi explained with a wide grin, "It was Yami's idea."

"Still believe in that hocus pocus Egyptian crap Ishizu said?" chuckled Kaiba, "Yugi, you're so naïve, your so called 'spirit' did not he come from the inside of your necklace nor did he come from Egypt, he is merely a figment of your imagination. And I did not come from Egypt for that matter while we're on that subject. I recommend consulting with a physiatrist with figuring out what is real, and what is implanted in your imagination. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do, and it would be in your best interest to leave me alone."

Yugi clenched his teeth together and snatched his peanut butter and jelly sandwich before savagely taking a bite out of it. It took him another minute to calm himself down so he could try talking to Kaiba again.

"Did you hear the rumor that there's going to be a new tournament that's going to be starting up? I heard that duelists from all over the world would be able to compete with each other and the top four duelists in each country would duel other countries… and the winner would have the title of the best duelist in the entire world!" Yugi rattled excitedly as Kaiba's eyes widened and quickly snapped his head towards Yugi's direction.

"Where did you here that?" Kaiba demanded as Yugi laughed.

"Wait… it's actually true?"

"I don't know where you heard that fairy tale Yugi, but there is no such tournament being planned," Kaiba lied as Yugi shrugged and grinned dreamily.

"That'd be a cool tournament though… maybe you could organize it, you did a great job with Battle City-"

"I'm leaving," Kaiba interrupted curtly as he closed his laptop screen and headed towards the cafeteria exit.

"What… where are you-?"

"Out."

Feeling there was no further explanation needed, Kaiba headed out of the school, where his driver was waiting for him expectantly.

Yugi stood by the doors for only a second, deciding he wasn't going to chase after Kaiba. Instead, he raced over to Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Bakura to join them at the lunch table. He began chatting excitedly with his friends, not giving a single thought to stop the CEO.

**Please review… I like readin' them and it really doesn't take so much energy and time to click that "submit review button." I know you can do it… I have confidence! starts singing I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN SUNSHIIINE! I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN RAIIIIN! I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CONFIDENCE ALONE! AS YOU CAN SEEE I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN MMEEEEEE! Ha… Sound of Music… gotta love it. Anyways… please review.**


	2. Crashing

**Disclaimer: I still don't own it... sorry. **

**Chapter Two: Crashing**

Kaiba slid into the backseat of the limousine, slamming the door behind him. The driver peered up into the rearview mirror, temporarily meeting his boss's stare. He was the first to break eye contact as he twisted the key in the ignition. Roaring to life, the limo was shifted into drive mode and smoothly glided down the streets of Domino.

"Go a little faster," Kaiba urged the driver on, "Mokuba is expecting me at eleven, and I will not tolerate tardiness on my part."

"Yes sir," the driver glumly nodded as he stepped on the pedal to pick up more speed.

The streets of Domino were practically dead in the afternoon, but it was quite the opposite during rush hour and in the evening times. Most people were inside the monstrous office buildings at work at this hour, not gallivanting into the numerous stores and shops in the area. There were still the occasional throngs of shoppers and tourists, but for the most part the traffic wasn't half bad. Lunch breaks for employees usually didn't begin until around twelve thirty, and there was still more than an hour and a half's time before the rush to the restaurants began.

As the limo got closer to the junior high, the shops and office buildings seemed to thin out, and a more suburban look seemed to be coming to life. Though it was still Domino City, the area around schools and apartments had very little stores and even fewer businesses.

The schools in Domino were very good for city schools. In most cities, parents would rather send their students to suburban schools where they were nicer, cleaner and even safer. Domino was one of the few cities that had an exceptional school system, and great facilities. There were times when Kaiba felt grateful that the schools were well funded, he would hate to send his younger brother to a private boarding school.

Right on time, the limousine pulled up to the curb where the back of the junior high school stood as a rush of kids bolted out through the doors and scattered into various places in the fenced in playground. Kaiba opened the door and scanned through the swarms of students and tried to pick out his brother's head of raven hair-

"Seto!" Mokuba grinned starting to climb over the fence to greet his brother. "You came!"

"Of course I did… I don't break my promises," Kaiba shrugged as Mokuba pushed himself on top of the metal fence and sat on top of it so he was eye level with his brother for once, "So how's school so far?"

"Ok I guess," Mokuba, answered, "I asked my teacher if it was all right if I went out with you… and you've got to come to the office to sign me out. She even said you could pull me out for the rest of the day!"

Kaiba snorted and ruffled Mokuba's hair, "That's not going to happen. I have to get back to school too you know. Come on… show me where the office is."

Mokuba climbed down from the fence as his brother stuck his shoe through one of the fence holes and hopped over the fence and into the schoolyard. After all… the front entrance was on the other side of the building… why walk all that way?

"Mokie! What did you do, bribe on of the high school students to be your friend? Or did your brother have to buy him for you since you don't have any friends?" taunted a lean 6th grader as Mokuba turned away, trying to ignore the boy as bit his lip, "What's the matter? Are you gonna cry again you big baby?"

"Hey-"

"Leave him alone Seto," Mokuba grumbled grabbing his brother by the arm and dragging him out of the playground. With Mokuba's free arm, he quickly swiped away the burning tears that threatened to leak out of his eyes. He didn't want Kaiba thinking he was too weak to stand up to Damien and his bullying friends.

"But-"

"No, we're going," Mokuba gritted his teeth together as he yanked the back doors open and led Kaiba down the hallway.

"What was that about?" Kaiba asked harshly, "That kid giving you a hard time?"

Mokuba turned around, flashing a fake smile to his brother's frowning face, "Na, just the class bully. It doesn't matter," Mokuba, said quickly. "He does that to everyone, and he's pretty thick too… he doesn't realize that he's the one that doesn't have any friends."

"You sure?" Kaiba asked uncertainly. He didn't want his brother to be bullied around, and he certainly didn't want to stand by the sideline and do nothing about it, "He sounded like he was targeting you-"

"No," Mokuba lied reassuringly, "Trust me, he wasn't targeting me. Where do you want to go for lunch?"

"Where ever you want, kid," Kaiba said sighing as Mokuba's eyes lit up.

"Really?" Mokuba gasped.

Normally, it was Kaiba who picked out the restaurant, Mokuba knew he meant no harm by this, he just wanted to avoid kid's play-o-ports and children party places as much as possible. Kaiba found the noise from McDonald's indoor playground quite annoying and irritating. Mokuba decided to spare his brother the pain of going to one of those kiddy restaurants and picked out a half way decent food place.

"How about Food Life?" Mokuba asked as Kaiba nodded as Mokuba pushed the door open into the office, holding it open for his brother.

"Sounds fine," Kaiba replied as he strode over to where a large binder lay on the counter, "I have the driver waiting for us."

Kaiba took out his own black pen and scribbled out his name, the date, time and Mokuba's name and homeroom on the notebook before pocketing the pen once more. The secretary eyed the binder for a moment then spoke up.

"Will Mokuba be coming back?" asked the secretary as Kaiba gave a jerky nod.

"As soon as lunch is finished."

"Thanks… bye," Mokuba called to the secretary as they left the school office behind.

"Do you mind if I make a quick call to the driver?" Kaiba questioned, pulling out his cell phone. "It won't take too long-"

"No go ahead…"

Mokuba forced a small smile masked away his disappointment. Usually, once his brother turned on his cell phone, he would never turn it off… even at parties or at home. Kaiba was almost addicted to it, once it started ringing, he couldn't stop answering it.

"Move the limo to the front of the school," Kaiba paused and nodded, "Bye."

Kaiba clicked off his cell phone as Mokuba sighed in relief. Sure, Kaiba had been pretty rude to the driver, but he turned off the cell phone before anyone could call him… this was turning out to be a pretty good day for Mokuba.

The driver was quick to move the limo over to the front entrance, knowing that if he took too long, his boss would not be so kind as to let him keep his job. Unfortunately for him, he was not quick enough. Mokuba and Kaiba ended up standing at the front of the school for nearly five minutes before the driver arrived.

Kaiba growled as the limo pulled over to the curb, and opened the door, glaring in at the driver. The driver peered over to meet with Kaiba's angered face and gulped noisily.

"What took you? Were you waiting for the next ice age to come? I know that limousine can drive fast if the driver wants it to."

The driver looked slightly panicky and swallowed before speaking, "Excuse me, sir… but it took me a while to get around the block… there were a lot of shoppers and-"

"It's stupid things like that, that will get you fired," Kaiba snapped as the driver paled, "Get out of the car. Your job is done."

"But-"

"You're fired, out! I'm driving now since you're obviously incapable of doing such a simple task," Kaiba spat coldly as the limo driver backed out of the driver's seat and handed Kaiba the keys. "Now get out of my sight."

"Seto, don't you think that you're being a little harsh-"

"Mokuba, stay out of this, and get in the back seat," Kaiba interrupted with a small bite to his voice as the limo driver walked away from Kaiba, his face burning with humiliation.

Mokuba did as he was told, knowing better not to irritate his brother any further. From past experience, Mokuba knew that his brother could have a terrible temper that Joey had even failed to penetrate, which almost seemed impossible. But it was possible and Mokuba had seen it happen only once.

But that was a while ago, and Mokuba was not eager to see the wrath of Kaiba again, so he obeyed his brother and strapped himself to the back seat of the limousine in silence. Kaiba slid into the front seat of the limo and adjusted his rear view mirror so he was able to see properly. His eyes glanced back to his little brother briefly before grabbing the steering wheel. Mokuba winced as his brother gripped the steering wheel so tightly, he could almost hear it cracking through the glass window that separated the front part of the limo from the back. His eyes were narrowed in frustration and his muscles seemed tensed up, all very obvious signs that he was either stressed out, or very angry.

Kaiba started up the limo and pulled away from Mokuba's school, turning up the volume on the car radio to calm down. He didn't want to ruin their lunch date because of his frustrations and bad attitude.

After a few minutes of random songs booming out of the speakers, Mokuba looked up at his brother to find his fingers gripping the wheel with a lot less force, his body seemed more relaxed, and his eyes were no longer stormy, instead they were calm and placid. He smiled and decided that Kaiba wouldn't mind him talking now that he was calmer.

"Hey Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed rolling down the glass window that separated Mokuba from his brother, "How long do we have left?"

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Kaiba answered impatiently. "And you better have your seat belt on."

"I do," Mokuba said sitting back against the seat, "But you don't."

"Mokuba, I don't need one," Kaiba replied stubbornly looking at his brother through the mirror.

"But-"

"I know what I'm doing on the road," Kaiba laughed softly as he crossed into the intersection as the light turned green. "I passed my driver's test and I think I know how to drive this limo… it's no different than a car-"

"SETO! THERE'S A CAR!" Mokuba screeched in a panicky voice as Kaiba jerked his sight back onto the road and blinked several times.

"Mokuba there's nothing-"

Before Kaiba was able to finish his sentence, a car collided into the driver's side of the limousine with a thunderous bang. Kaiba was violently thrown down to the opposite seat from the force of the impact. His head collided with the door handle and for a brief moment, everything slid out of focus. The glass from the windows shattered as the car drove into the side of the car, the metal bending towards Kaiba.

It all happened so fast that Kaiba was hardly able to register the fact that his limo had just been hit. Kaiba's jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide in complete shock.

"Seto? SETO!"

"Ugh…"

"Are you all right?" Mokuba's voice seemed to carry a heavy tremble as he went to unbuckle his seat belt.

"I'm fine," Kaiba groaned and sat up, blinking around dizzily. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

"Not really… a little bruised but I'm ok, the car got your side more than mine- you're bleeding!" Mokuba cried as Kaiba brought his hand up to his temple to find the area dripping with blood.

"I'm fine… let's go-"

"SETO! THERE'S ANOTHER CAR!"

"What the-"

With the force of a speeding bullet, a black jeep slammed into the front of the limo sending Kaiba crashing forwards into front glass of the limo, only to be snapped back by the air bag that had popped up. Kaiba released a strangled yelp as his body snapped back like a rag doll and hit the back of the seat. His head pounded into the headrest sending a painful jolt throughout his body.

Kaiba became well aware that the front of the limo was beginning to drive down into his stomach making it difficult to breath. He felt his legs being forced towards him, and his knees began to rub against the metal harshly. Everything was going so slow; this impact seemed to take so much longer to happen…

"SETO!" Mokuba's terrified voice shrieked from the back seat as the car drove deeper into the limo. Kaiba cast another glance back at his brother… his face etched in nothing short of horror and hysteria… but mostly worry for Mokuba who was rubbing the back of his head and covering his eyes.

Knowing the windshield was going to shatter at any moment… he quickly pressed one of the buttons of the side door to roll up the glass shield that separated the front of the limo from the back.

Then his stare came back to the front of the car to find that the front glass had shattered and now the glass was flying towards him jabbing into is skin…

Kaiba let out a loud shriek of pain as the glass sliced his skin drawing out blood that stained his neat school uniform. In the back of his mind, he was relieved to find that he had put up the window, but the relief did not stop his shrieks of pain escaping past his lips.

The tiny shards of glass slammed into his eyes slicing the surface of the eyeballs. Pain shot through his eyes as Kaiba's eyes began to water rapidly trying to get rid of the glass. But it was not over yet. Two more chunks the size of baseballs hit Kaiba directly in the eyes before falling into his lap. Another yelp along with a mixture of tears and blood escaped from Kaiba as he began to tremble violently as he closed his eyes, feeling his slashed eyes rubbing against his eyelids.

He opened his eyes briefly and there was a strange dizzying sensation. The muffled screams from Mokuba rang through his ears as his vision faded. He made an effort to turn around and make sure his brother was all right… but his vision turned black and he fell into a state of unconsciousness.

Mokuba immediately rolled down the glass window that separated his brother from his help. It was almost impossible to hold back the tears that were slowly overpowering his eyes, there was never a time where Mokuba had ever been so scared.

"Seto…" Mokuba whispered reaching out to Kaiba and shaking his shoulders, "Wake up…"

There was no response from Kaiba, not even a groan. Mokuba's eyes grew wide as he stared at all the cuts his brother had sustained from the shattered glass and the blood that was starting to trickle out of his eyes along with some strange white substance. He gave an involuntary shudder as Mokuba realized that the inside of his brother's eyes had been sliced open and the liquid inside the eyeball was now coming out along with the red blood.

Mokuba clenched his fists together letting out a small whimper, fearing that he just lost his brother. What would he do without Kaiba? He didn't even want to even THINK about the possibility that his brother might be-

"Excuse me, are you two all right?" asked a voice as a wrinkled man with a worried look on his face stuck his head through the opened window. He didn't look hurt, so Mokuba knew he must have been a bystander that had witnessed the crash.

"I-I am," Mokuba, answered stopping abruptly as he heard two gunshots, "What was that?"

"I don't know… how's the driver?"

"He's unconscious, and he's hurt real bad."

The man's face grew hard as he looked at the young CEO unconscious in the front seat.

"Here… come out on this side… we'll get you guys some help."

Mokuba scooted over as the man opened what was left of the smashed passenger's door and forced himself into the nearly destroyed limo and took a closer look at Kaiba, a frown buried in his old features as he heard Kaiba's rattling breaths, sounding like he was trying to take in air, but found he was unable to take in enough.

"All right, my wife all ready called 911, let's get your brother out of that seat… it doesn't look like he can breath right, otherwise I'd leave it up to the meds to take care of him…"

Mokuba rushed over quickly to see exactly what the man was talking about and nearly fell in shock. His next reaction was not so quiet; there was a loud howl and tremendous sobs of anguish.

"It's just a limo kid-"

"HE'S DEAD!" Mokuba cried as he stared at the dead body of a man sprawled on the ground.

Suddenly… Mokuba knew where the gunshots had come from. There was a large gaping hole in the man's head, and in his hand there was a small gun.

Suicide.

But why…

"This driver isn't dead yet… if you don't get a move on we might loose him!"

That was enough encouragement for Mokuba to look away from the dead man on the ground.

The front of the limo had taken most of the hit from the two cars and there was nothing left but a small gap that separated the seats from the front of the car. Mokuba realized that the man was right; if they didn't get moving Kaiba would die. A lot of metal from the cars had been forced into his brother's chest; and it was really no wonder why he was having trouble breathing.

Mokuba swallowed hard as his brother's breaths began to come out more quickly, panting and struggling to get the much-needed air. He nodded wordlessly as the man crawled closer to Kaiba's seat and thought for a moment.

"If you can kid… try and climb on the top of the limo so I can push him through the windshield… I don't see how this can work any other way."

He quickly shook his head and climbed up on top of the hot car. He crawled over to where his brother was sitting and waited for further instructions.

Kaiba's breath hitched and he began to choke for a moment, as though he were actually breathing in smoke rather than oxygen.

"Kid…we've got to get him out. Just stay calm all right? Your brother's lucky… I can get to his legs but I need you to grab his arms-"

"They're pinned down!" Mokuba cried as the man groaned and pulled on Kaiba's arms up and handed the limp limbs to Mokuba. Fortunately… the arms were not pinned down from the metal.

Tentatively, Mokuba reached out and took the two bleeding hands that were offered to him. Kaiba's hands were strangely warm and sticky at the same time. It was an odd feeling to hold his brother's hand without his brother saying anything or squeezing it back gently. The blood on the hand seemed to dry on Mokuba's hand slowly, making his hands feel unbearably clammy and gross.

"Wait until I tell you to pull all right? And don't worry about dislocating his arms or anything, those are very fixable and you can pop them right back in." Mokuba glumly as his grip around his brother's hands tightened slightly.

"Ok… I've got a good hold on his legs… start pulling," commanded the man as Mokuba heaved back with all of his strength.

"You're doing fine… there… his darn jacket was snagged on something… he's coming up… keep pulling…"

Indeed, Kaiba was slowly coming up towards Mokuba, his chest scratching against the deformed metal, making Mokuba wince as he kept on tugging. All Mokuba could think about was how much he was hurting his brother by doing this… and how he was hoping Kaiba wouldn't be mad for getting so beat up over it.

"GET AWAY FROM THE CARS! THERE'S AN OIL LEAK IN THE JEEP!" yelled a woman as Mokuba froze.

"Don't stop! Keep going… I'm not leaving till he's free… and I don't know about you kid, but I'd rather not get blown up."

Privately agreeing, Mokuba began to drag Kaiba out of the destroyed limo again, finding this time that almost his entire torso was sticking out. The fact that his brother was almost free gave Mokuba a strong sense of hope that made his muscles seem to ache less from the amount of effort he was putting into the rescue.

"STOP! Give me a second… his ankles are caught…"

Mokuba trembled on the spot, thinking about the oil leak… and how at any second all three of them could be blown up into smithereens. What was he going to do after he got his brother loose? Would he be able to drag him all the way to safety by himself?

Somehow… he doubted he would be able to do that.

"I need help!" Mokuba shouted, praying that someone was listening. "Please… we need to get my brother out! Someone… please?"

There was a long pause, and to Mokuba's disappointment, no one moved. He looked over to the crowd of onlookers, and a wave of fury erupted in him to find that none of them had bothered to come over.

"Come on! I just need your help…" Mokuba begged desperately, looking straight at the swarm of people this time. He was disgusted with those people… were they just going to stand there and watch them get blown up? "COME ON!"

"Pull now!"

Mokuba complied at once, this time dragging Kaiba's limp body all the way on top of him. Caught by surprise by the sudden weight of his brother on top of him, Mokuba fell backwards onto the hood of the jeep.

A pair of hands lifted Kaiba off of Mokuba and the CEO's body was dragged away speedily before Mokuba could figure out what happened. When he realized that his brother was all ready on the other side of the street, lying on the sidewalk, Mokuba leapt off of the hoods of the cars and scampered over to the sidewalk.

Just old man crawled out of the limo, there was a loud explosion and the jeep burst into flames. Mokuba breathed a sigh of relief as the old man limped over to where Mokuba was standing.

"Thank you so much…" Mokuba spoke up shakily as he looked up at the teenager who dragged Kaiba out of the car, then at the old man.

"It's all right kid… let's see how your brother is doing," the teen said comfortingly, grinning widely. For a moment, all Mokuba could do was stare at the teen's toothy grin for a second, finding that the boy had pointed fangs on his canines. He had bright yellow hair tipped with black edges that gave off a strange threatening aura. The teen wore a tight black tank top that showed off his left arm, where there was a large tattoo of a lightening bolt with thorns sticking out of the sides.

Mokuba averted his gaze down towards his brother and clamped a hand over his mouth. His brother coughed hard taking in deep erratic breaths as his body began to convulse violently. The old man crouched on the ground and pulled Kaiba into an upright position, hoping that it would be easier for the teen to breathe.

"Dang… where is that ambulance?" the man hissed as Kaiba choked as a strange gurgling sound came from the back of his throat.

"Kid… I need you to go over to my wife for a minute, see if she's ok for me… I'll take care of your brother, ok?" the man said firmly as Mokuba nodded shakily and followed the man's orders and ran over to the white haired lady standing on the corner of the street.

In truth, he didn't want to see his brother in that condition… it terrified him… scared him worse than the initial crash. The white haired woman smiled warmly and gathered Mokuba in her arms, somehow knowing that Mokuba really needed a hug… or some form of reassurance.

The old man sighed in relief, glad that the younger boy had left them. He knew what was coming, and he didn't want Mokuba to witness this. The teenager that lifted Kaiba off of Mokuba knelt down and went to touch his chest, as though to check for broken bones.

"Don't…" the old man growled, "He's either got broken ribs or the ribs might have punctured a lung… don't you go making it worse."

"Sorry… I was only trying to help, old man," the teen shrugged indifferently.

Kaiba involuntarily groaned as he choked again and began coughing out blood that slowly dribbled down his chin and onto his usually crisp and clean shirt. The teen was shaking violently as he coughed again, more blood spraying out of his mouth.

"Come on kid…" the man whispered, "Hang in there for another minute… the doctors will have a look at you in a second…"

The man's words fell on deaf ears as Kaiba continued to heave up more blood, his face going pale and his fingernails starting to pale and turn into a dull blue color.

And at last the sirens gave a thunderous wail as the medical vehicle pulled up next to Kaiba and the old man as another ambulance sped over to where a dead girl rested on the ground, with a gun firmly clasped in her hand.

Mokuba pulled out of the woman's grasp and raced over to his brother, as he was loaded up on a white stretcher with his legs, neck and arms strapped onto the stretcher.

"Seto…"

The younger of the two Kaiba brothers whimpered and cried as Kaiba was moved gently and quickly into the ambulance. Without a second thought, Mokuba jumped inside the ambulance and sat next to his brother on a small padded seat.

"Hey… you have to get out-"

"I'm his brother," Mokuba explained quickly as a nurse nodded.

"Yes… I recognized your brother. You must be Mokuba? We'll take care of your brother, ok?" the woman said encouragingly as the doors to the ambulance slammed shut.

And somewhere at that moment, two school bells rang, alerting the students that lunch was over, and that it was time to sit down in their scheduled classrooms. In these two schools, however, there would be no Kaibas present for the remainder of the day.

**All right! End of Chapter Two! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Bows I really enjoy reading them!**

**Double Kodachi: Er... if you meant series as in more than one chapter, then yes. I'll update as often as I can, because I'm still posting chapters on another web sight. I have no idea whether there's going to be a sequel (if you mean series as in more than one book) because... well I'm just not sure. I'm so glad you like this **

**Seto'sWhiteRose88: That... is just plain scary. (Great minds think alike... right?) I knew there were some stories out there that were similar to mine, that's why I put the dates when I started this story in the long notes blurb at the beginning. I read your story, and it's very similar to this story. Very scary... but hey I think it's cool how we had similar ideas... I mean there are similarities between your story and my story... but the good thing is that there are a lot of differences too. I'm going to review for it in a few minutes after I post this chapter. I should be able to update this fairly quick because almost all of this has been written out, and I'm just adding changes here and there so it makes more sense, more descriptive... you get the point. **

**dangerousgirl: lol- I was actually originally going to have Yugi just sort of go all disappointed and walk away, and then have Yami come out... but I decided what the heck... let's add Yami into the mix... so that's they way it came out. I'm sorry but this story isn't going to be shonen-ai... with all honesty... I'm over 200 pages into the story and I still don't have a clue whether this should turn out to have a pairing or not. Pathetic I know... but yeah. I actually don't write shonen-ai because there is a LOT of fan fiction that does have shonen-ai and I know there are some people out there who don't like it and simply won't read it if it has boy boy or girl girl relationships.**

**Now personally, I read them and enjoy them because if it has an excellent storyline, it doesn't matter if its two boys going out on a date, just as long as the story is good. But I just don't write shonen-ai... why? It's just not the style I want to write... you know?**

**So thanks everyone for your awesome reviews... please keep it up! As I've said like 20 million times before, I love feedback... so yeah... go ahead... I KNOW you want to click that "Submit Review" button... go on... it won't bite you! **


	3. Awakenings and Adriana

**EDITED: This chapter is modified from the original post. It would be VERY WISE NOT TO READ FUTURE CHAPTERS UNTIL YOU SEE THIS EDITED SIGN ABOVE THE POST OTHERWISE THINGS WILL NOT MAKE A WHOLE LOT OF SENSE!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did Yami wouldn't be as corny, there would be less inspirational speeches, and when there's supposed to be violence... BY GOD LET THERE BE VIOLENCE!  
Er... I think I should just... post now... yeah...**

**Chapter Three: Awakenings and Adriana**

For some reason, when one is in misery or is excited for something, time seems to slow down. The minute hand seems frozen as the second hand slowly inches its way around to the number twelve, and yet it feels like it takes an hour for only a minute to pass.

To Mokuba, the two weeks without his brother conscious drug on sluggishly; time passed reluctantly and fought to keep going, like an exhausted runner finishing his last mile. As far as his teachers could tell, he seemed to be in a state of shock over the whole ordeal. The young boy drifted from class to class without so much as daring to strike up a conversation with someone. Mokuba just sat at his desk, his mind wandering to different places, unable to keep his mind on school or what was happening in class.

As much as his teachers had tried to help, they really couldn't bring much of a smile onto that sweet child's face. His math teacher went as far as to bake brownies, which was Mokuba's favorite dessert, and even brought them into Mokuba's class. The gesture was certainly kind, and Mokuba made sure he forced a smile onto his face when he thanked his teacher for the brownie. Mokuba was even given the extras after class when everyone else had moved onto their next class.

Everyday, Mokuba returned to the hospital to visit his comatose brother. Each day, he seemed to look a little better, and this always brightened Mokuba's day. Maybe he wasn't conscious yet… but each day he was getting closer.

From the crash, Kaiba had sustained multiple cuts and bruises, however that wasn't the worst of it. When the metal from the car had forced into his chest had broken one of his ribs and punctured his right lung. If the doctors hadn't worked as fast as they did when Kaiba arrived, he would have drowned in his own blood.

Probably some of the most damage that Kaiba had gotten was to his eyes; so much glass had scratched up his eyes, he needed to go into surgery to stitch up his eyes. The eyes had literally been almost sliced in half and that killed a rather large portion of the eye tissue. There was no hope of restoring his eyesight.

It was an early Monday morning, the sun filtering through the blinds that covered up the east window in Kaiba's hospital room. The ground seemed to be covered with a thick layer of fog drifting across the grassy gardens of the hospital. Despite the fog, the pink sun shined brilliantly through the smoky substance, a dazzling morning display for anyone who was headed to work at the crack of dawn.

That morning, Kaiba stirred slowly, awakening from his deep sleep.

The process was a gradual one, for quite some time he hovered over a state of semi consciousness, only partially aware of the talking doctors in the opposite room. His mind had been wandering in such strange dreams; he vaguely remembered one, which he was riding a roller coaster with Mokuba. His poor brother was screaming so loudly Kaiba went deaf and couldn't hear anything for the rest of the dream.

Right now however, he was dreaming that he was in a desert, with a golden staff firmly clenched in his hand. There was something about that dream that made him feel powerful; his strides were confident and snide, as if he were showing the nearby cactus just how amazing he was.

A woman walked beside him, a beautiful girl with brilliant turquoise eyes and elegant silvery blue hair. Her pale hand wrapped around his free hand as a faint pink blush appeared on her soft features. Kaiba felt his strides become less confident and easier as the girl led him towards an oasis without a single word.

Kaiba heard voices behind him, but they were so faint that he couldn't even make out what they were saying. He shrugged and continued to walk towards the oasis.

The small golden staff was suddenly out of his hand, lying half buried in the white sand. His blue headdress was cast aside and he felt an alien sense of freedom as the girl ran into the patch of green plants surrounded by a wondrous spring.

Kaiba ran after, squinting as the woman dived into water, which now appeared to be shedding a golden light. A laugh escaped out of his through as he dived after her, plunging into the water.

The faint voices that he had heard earlier were suddenly growing louder, a few phrases catching in his ears as he swam through the clear water after the woman.

"Doctor… I think… on drugs…"

"I know… I need you… hold him down… doesn't wreak my stitches again…"

Confused, Kaiba paused for a brief second, looking above him. The water was deeper than he first thought. In fact, now it seemed like the water was as deep as the ocean itself… there was no bottom his eyes could see. The girl swam deeper and deeper, towards a golden light at the bottom. He ignored the voices, which were now growing more understandable and continued to swim after the girl.

"God I just want to hurt this kid… he just ruined two hours of work! I was supposed to be done four hours ago… FOUR!"

"Once his face is stitched back together we can go home…"

"AHHHHH! ARGH! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

"Not again! Doctor…"

"Damn it, Sheryl! I told you to hold him down!"

"He was too strong…"

"Just sew his damn ears to the bed…"

"No!"

"Sheryl… hold him down harder so I won't have to resort to that…"

"Yes doctor."

The girl stopped for a moment and reached out to grab whatever was emitting the golden light. Her fingers wrapped around the item, the golden light showing through the gaps in bright rays of sunshine. The woman smiled and swam over to Kaiba, who plugged his ears to stop the voices he was hearing.

As the girl swam closer to him, the image seemed to fade away, the light becoming brighter and brighter as she got nearer to him. The girl's smiling face disappeared from the light, and all Kaiba could see was a brilliant firework show dancing before his eyes.

But then it changed. The light seemed to grow dimmer, graying little by little. Silver faded into pepper… pepper faded into grey… grey died into blackness.

His senses were suddenly returning to him, the cold air conditioner breezed across his face making his nose wrinkle at the contact. There were sharp pains in his head and chest, and his entire body felt like it was a giant bruise.

"Doctor Peterson… your wife is on the phone-"

"Tell her I'm in surgery-"

"Yes I told her that… and she says that you were supposed to be home… almost six hours ago-"

"I know! That was before this drugged kid came in! Now tell her I'll be home later this afternoon. I can't talk to her and tell her I'll call her later."

"All right."

Kaiba moved himself to an upright position trying to open his eyes, but something seemed to be restraining them. Panicking, Kaiba quickly placed a hand over his eyes, and found a bandage covering over his eyes. He was still very groggy and he flopped back down against the bed frame feeling ready to go back to sleep.

"Ugh…"

And he was asleep once again. However, he woke up nearly two hours later to find an icy stethoscope on his chest. Grumpily, he batted away the instrument, earning a shriek of surprise from the woman who was listening to his heart.

"Oh my goodness… Mr. Kaiba?"

"What!" Kaiba snapped irritably.

"You're awake! This is wonderful! Oh… I'll get Doctor Sage in here right away… and I'll get the secretary to phone your brother, he's been worried sick about you… I'll be right back."

"And get me some pain killers while you're at it," Kaiba muttered sleepily, "My head kills… and my chest…"

"I don't find that very surprising, Mr. Kaiba. I'll get the doctor, he'll know what to get you."

The woman ran out of the room and retrieved the doctor, but first dialed up Kaiba's house to inform Mokuba that his brother had finally woken up. Mokuba was at school by the time the doctors contacted his house, however one of the house workers promised to send a limo to his school so he could visit his brother. Doctor Sage, though eager to see Kaiba, had to finish helping Doctor Peterson treat a patient next to Kaiba's room. It took him a good half hour before he came into the room.

"Mr. Kaiba, I'm glad to see you're still awake, my apologies for making you wait. I was helping Doctor Peterson in surgery… we were working on a patient who is quite high… but I could get in trouble for telling you any more information I'm afraid… something about doctor-patient confidentiality. I'm Doctor Sage," the man explained running his hand through his grey speckled hair, "And how are you feeling?"

"Tired," Kaiba mumbled as Doctor Sage smiled and nodded.

"Yes, you were in a coma for two weeks, I expected that. My nurse told me you were in some pain?"

"My head and chest," Kaiba admitted as the doctor thought for a moment before filling up a glass of water and going through the cabinet.

"Would you like some pills for that?"

"Yeah."

"Very well, are you allergic to any kinds of medicine or food?"

"No."

"Good then… here you go."

Kaiba held out his hands and waited for the doctor to put the pills in his hand. Doctor Sage dropped two pills into Kaiba's outstretched hand and gently guided the other to the water glass he was holding. Grunting, Kaiba grabbed the water the instant his fingers touched the glass's cool surface.

"Why are my eyes bandaged?"

"We operated on your eyes, in your accident the glass sliced them very badly. You also punctured your right lung during your accident, and we had to do surgery to fix your broken rib as well. Once you are released from the hospital, do NOT do anything too strenuous or anything that might cause stress on your chest. Your cuts have healed, but your muscles might be a little sore. Do you have any questions?"

"When do I get to take off these bandages? I want to get out of here as soon as possible," asked Kaiba coldly as the doctor sighed heavily.

"We were going to remove the bandages today however-"

"Seto! You're awake!" cried Mokuba as Kaiba turned his head wildly around trying to find his brother. Doctor Sage decided it was best to leave the two brothers alone for a little while before delivering the bad news to Kaiba.

Kaiba felt his little brother wrap his arms around his chest tightly as the hospital shirt slowly became damp. The new weight on his chest caused a ripple of pain to explode in his chest, however he did his best to ignore it.

"Mokuba…" Kaiba muttered holding his brother comfortingly. "What's the matter?"

"I missed you, big brother, I didn't know when you were going to wake up," Mokuba whimpered as Kaiba grinned.

"Who wouldn't? Did the maids treat you all right while I was gone?" Kaiba asked as Mokuba nodded eagerly, still hugging his chest.

"Yep! They made me my favorite meals too! You should really give them a raise-"

"I think I pay them enough as it is," Kaiba muttered as Mokuba continued.

"And Yugi even visited you and stopped at our house! He got you some flowers and a few duel monsters cards! Joey kept me company too, he taught me this really cool game called Can Can- are you ok?"

Kaiba winced as a particularly painful throb in his chest reminded him that having his brother clinging onto his chest was not a good idea after surgery. He sucked in a sharp breath as Mokuba quickly let go and began to panic.

"Oh… I'm so sorry Seto! I forgot… I didn't know I was hurting you! Do you want me to call someone? I can go find Doctor Sage… do you want some painkillers? I'm really sorry-"

"Relax kid," Kaiba interrupted Mokuba's rant, "I'm all right. The doctor all ready took care of me.

"Oh… ok."

"You weren't hurt were you? From the crash-"

"No… I was fine," Mokuba answered as Kaiba frowned.

"Are you ok now?"

There was a brief pause that made Kaiba's eyebrows and concern rise up.

"Yeah! Of course I'm fine… I've just been worrying about you… that's all," Mokuba replied uneasily as Kaiba shook his head.

"Mokuba… are you sure? I mean-"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'll be right back…"

"Could you get the doctor while you're up? I want to get these bandages off and then I could probably head home with you later tonight," Kaiba mused as Mokuba bit his lip.

"Oh."

Before Kaiba could say another word, Mokuba left the room. There was something about Mokuba's behavior that seemed rather off, and it left an unsettling feeling at the pit of his stomach. It was unnatural for him to not get excited over his brother returning home after a long trip, and even more unnatural for him to be so tense during a conversation. His little brother was hiding something… but what?

"Mokuba," Doctor Sage exclaimed, " I was looking for you… do you think I can speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure," Mokuba responded. "Seto just asked me to get you… he wants to go home tonight."

"Yes well… that's partially what I wanted to talk to you about, let's continue this in my office" suggested Doctor Sage receiving a nod in return, "Excellent. Would you like a smoothie from the cafeteria? I'm quite anxious to get a coffee myself; I've been up almost all night with a patient in surgery. What do you say?"

"Uh… I kinda don't have any money-"

"My treat, come on, the cafeteria is on the way to my office anyways."

"Thank you."

The pair left the empty hallway and entered the elevator. Mokuba glanced curiously upwards towards the older man's face to find a grim expression was pasted over. The doctor pressed the elevator button forcefully and waited for the elevator door to open and grant them passage into the higher level. With each level the elevator went up, there was a tiny "ding" signaling that they had on less level to go until their destination was reached.

Suddenly the elevator stopped as a maintenance man entered the elevator rolling a cart of cleaning supplies into the elevator. The blue uniformed man glanced briefly at the buttons to find that the three of them were all journeying up to the same level. With another ding, the doors slid shut once again.

The elevator gave a loud ding as the door opened and the three strolled out of the elevator. Mokuba tilted his head as the doctor led the way to the cafeteria.

Surprisingly, the cafeteria was a very good one, not one you would expect in most hospitals. There was a whole line of doctors waiting for their turn to grab a cup of coffee from the Starbucks coffee machine. Various food stations were scattered around the room, including a breakfast bar, a dessert bar, and even a smoothie stand.

Doctor Sage handed Mokuba what looked like a credit card that read "Doctor Sage, ID# 3821-493. Cafeteria Bucks" and in the fine print at the bottom of the card said "For the usage of Domino Hospital's Café Cafeteria only. Warning, this card is not valid in any other store or shop."

"I don't know if you would rather have something else up here, so you can use that. I'll just wait in line here," Doctor Sage gestured to the growing line for the coffee machine. "So take your time, ok?"

"All right… but are you sure I'm allowed to use this?" Mokuba questioned as Doctor Sage laughed.

"My wife uses it all the time, and if anyone gives you grief just remind them that I have some sedatives ready to use at any time… they'll get the joke," Doctor Sage winked as Mokuba's eyes widened, "Don't worry… I just have a little joke with the nurse's staff and the cafeteria ladies."

"O…k," Mokuba blinked rapidly before wandering towards the smoothie stand to purchase a strawberry smoothie.

The teenager who was running the stand gave a warm smile when Mokuba told her what he wanted to order saying that the smoothie was in fact her favorite as well… and proceeded to ask if he minded her having a sip. Before Mokuba could even answer, the girl laughed and waved her hand, showing him that she was not at all serious about her request.

"So… that'd be ten dollars," the girl grinned as Mokuba produced Doctor Sage's card, "Ok… really it's only three. Ah, you don't look like a fifty nine year old man. Unless you're a new Doctor Sage who stole his real ID number-"

"Uh no… he said I could use it," Mokuba answered uncertainly as the woman turned on the blender.

"Really? Oh… did he say anything else?" the woman asked curiously.

"Yeah… he said something about having… sedatives ready to use… at any time…"

The woman laughed and slapped the counter, "Ah, the crazy lunatic. He put you up to that? He's a nutter that's for sure; you know he used one of them sedatives on his nursing assistant? Poor thing… she was ever jumpy after that. Only joking kid! Oh dear, did you think I was serious? Oh you poor thing. Here's your smoothie… and tell old Sage that it was a dirty trick to use a cutie like you to get him a free smoothie and that I didn't charge him, all right?"

"Ok… thanks," Mokuba answered gratefully before turning around to find Doctor Sage motioning him over, "Uh… the lady said that she didn't charge you."

"Yeah… that's Sherri. She's a lunatic; you know she tells everyone that I used a sedative on my nursing assistant? I can assure you if she said anything of the sort that it's quite untrue. I used it on an intern…"

Mokuba followed the man cautiously out of the cafeteria, hoping that it was only a running joke. If it wasn't… he wouldn't be able to believe that he allowed that guy to treat his brother…

"All right kid, this is my office," Doctor Sage beamed proudly, "It's bigger than most… so don't get too comfortable."

Doctor Sage and Mokuba strolled into the office, standing in the doorway for a moment, giving Mokuba a little time for his eyes to wander around the office.

It was a small cozy little place, his doctor's diploma hanging up on the wall along with a few pictures of his wife and four children tapped messily on the wall. And on the desk were a few framed drawings of people, looking almost lifelike. Mokuba grinned, as he looked at all the picture frames full of his family and a few pictures of his friends.

"You like the pictures?" Doctor Sage asked pleasantly as Mokuba nodded.

With a wide smile, Doctor Sage raised his hand and gestured the largest photo in the whole room, and captured in the picture, was a plump blonde woman, her mouth half open as though she was caught half laughing, and her arms were wrapped around two little boys. In the back of the photo stood an older boy and a teenage girl, wearing matching red and gold outfits just like the rest of the group.

"That's my wife, Lesley," Doctor Sage pointed at the older woman, "And these our are kids, on the right is little Jack and his twin brother Jake. We had a terrible time when they were first brought home; we were so worried that we were calling Jack Jake and Jake Jack. My wife had to put nametags on the baby's clothes so we wouldn't get the two mixed up," he paused for a minute and chuckled fondly at the memory, "And there's Tim, he was our oldest and by far the most stubborn, he was more like me than anything. He died however; almost four years ago… this is such an old photograph… I've got to get everyone out for a new family photo. But Lily… my daughter has my wife's creativity; she's the short one next to Tim. She draws a lot… all of these drawings she did herself."

"They're really good," Mokuba, commented as he looked at one of the photographs of a little baby curled up in its crib, tightly clutching the little blue blanket that was gently draped over the baby's stomach.

"Yes… and this drawing right here," Doctor Sage pointed to another drawing, "was done by one of my patients I had a while ago… I'll have to talk to you about her in a minute."

Mokuba paused for a moment his eyes widening in surprise; he hadn't expected the talent he was seeing. In the picture was a young girl, her gawky shy appearance indicating that she was a preteen, not yet peaking into the teen years. Her eyes were intricately drawn; in great detail done so well all the emotion of that drawing was captured in the girl's very eyes.

The eyes held great sadness, guilt, and regret. Her eyes were teary, and her skin was pale and smooth, the pencil shading was quite good to give her skin such remarkable texture. Mokuba jumped slightly as he realized in the shadows behind the girl were scenes, almost like playing in a movie. There were a group of older teens, seeming to loom over the girl; their piercing eyes making her posture bend down in fear. All of the people in the girl were dressed in black harsh clothing, and a few of the guys were holding shadows of guns and knives. And was a trick of the eyes or did the woman looming over the girl look like an older… crueler version of the younger girl?

Mokuba decided he didn't want to see anymore of those details, "She's… really good too."

That was all he could think of to say.

Doctor Sage moved his head upwards in agreement as he sat down in a neat leather chair, the grim expression returning onto his face.

"Your brother has one of the best medical staffs in the entire country at his side, and it is mainly that reason that I will allow Kaiba to leave this hospital whenever he wishes to. I know he will be in good hands, and they will be able to care for your brother just as good… if not better than how we've been treating him here."

"Yeah… he did want to leave," Mokuba admitted, "But… what about his eye bandages?"

"Mokuba… I told you the first day you brought your brother in… that he was not going to be able to regain his eyesight. Even with surgery, the cells in his eyes are dead and we don't have anything that can bring those cells back to life-"

"I know. So what's the problem?" Mokuba interrupted with an edge to his voice.

"The problem is quite simple. Your brother has lived his entire life with sight, he has known nothing about blindness, and it probably never crossed his mind that a car accident could leave him blind. It's a big readjustment, and to some it feels like they've lost something important to them that they took for granted their whole lives. He needs to relearn everything… how to read, how to walk and how to do every day things. He needs someone to teach him everything again."

"Yeah… but how do I teach him-"

"Mokuba, you're in junior high. This burden should not be thrown onto your shoulders; this is going to be a big adjustment for you and your brother as it is… I don't want to add any more access weight that does not need to be added. There's a girl I know, who is blind… but can teach your brother what it's like to live with blindness. She will be able to relate to what your brother is going through. She will be able to understand how your brother feels about the situation, because she went through the same thing as well. I can give her a call if you'd like, only if you're interested."

"Well… is she good?"

"Very. She's worked with children ever since she was about… fourteen. She's got a lot of experience and I know she can help your brother," Doctor Sage answered as Mokuba nodded.

"Well… I'm interested, but can I talk to her first?" Mokuba questioned as Doctor Sage nodded.

"Of course… I'll call her now. Her name is Adriana Wood, and you know that picture you were looking at earlier? She's the one who drew it… she was quite an amazing artist," Doctor Sage sighed as he picked up the telephone and began to dial some numbers before hastily hanging up, "I forgot… she's lived at an orphanage for quite sometime… she was adopted about… two weeks ago in fact."

His fingers pressed down on the numbers dialing a new number that he never used before on this telephone, or any phone for that matter. He waited for a few moments, hearing nothing but the dial tone, until a voice answered the phone.

"Hello?" the chirpy voice asked excitedly.

"Hello Amber… Ms. Andersen I should say," Doctor Sage said calmly as the girl on the other line giggled, but then grew quiet. "This is Doctor Sage. Is your sister home?"

"Adriana? Yeah she's home… how do you know my sister?" asked Amber with curiosity.

"Well, she and I are sort of friends. May I speak with her?" Doctor Sage inquired patiently as the girl hummed into the phone.

"Yeah sure," Amber said before covering the phone. Doctor Sage winced as he heard the little girl's high shriek, the volume so loud he had to move the phone away from his ear. "ADRIANA! PHONE! IT'S DOCTOR SEGE!"

There was a short pause, until another girl picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Adriana, it's good to hear your voice again," Doctor Sage, laughed cheerfully as the girl offered a small hum in response. "Hendricks isn't the same without you, I paid the kids a visit the other day and all those cute little kids could talk about was how their favorite little friend had left them-"

"Ahh Hendricks, yeah I miss them too… ahh… I miss the place in general. Never thought that would happen, eh Sage? I was so vicious… ha, " Adriana sighed wistfully as Doctor Sage nodded.

"Yes… those were some… interesting times," Doctor Sage coughed, "Adriana, I know the change of living in a new house with a new family is rather big, but I was hoping that you could help me out."

"With what exactly?" asked Adriana cautiously.

"Well, remember how you used to help kids all the time-"

"Yeah."

"I need you to work your magic again," Doctor Sage, muttered, "I have another patient, and he's never going to see again. I was wondering if you could help him. He's about your age, and he was involved in a car accident. When he crashed into the other car, a lot of glass cut up his eyes and we had to perform surgery on his eyes to repair them, but even our most powerful medicines or lazars could bright back his sight."

"I see," Adriana clicked her tongue as she tapped her pencil against the desk thoughtfully, "Who is he, and what exactly do you want me to do?"

"His name is Seto Kaiba, and I need you to rehabilitate him-"

"Are we talking about weekly sessions… daily… or do you actually want me there 24/7?" inquired Adriana with a yawn.

"I'd say either daily sessions or 24/7, that would be up to the family of course. He can be quite a handful from what I've heard."

"I see," Adriana, murmured, "Do you have the family's permission to… let me in?"

"His little brother said he would let you rehabilitate him," Doctor Sage replied as Adriana's pencil stopped tapping.

"Seto Kaiba… wait. Oh… I understand now. CEOs need to have their eyesight to work and see everything that goes on in their corporation. And he's got to take care of his little brother, fend for himself and because he's a duelist, it's only natural to want to keep a title as good as his. But… without his sight he can't duel. Unless I teach him how. He's had his eyesight for all of his life, it'll be one hell of a shock to loose it," Adriana mused as though she were really thinking to herself than to Doctor Sage, "So… his little brother, could I speak with him?"

"Of course, he's right here in my office."

"And one last thing… I have a question I'd like to ask you, but I'd have to talk to you in person. Can I stop by sometime?"

"Of course, you know my hours quite well, stop in whenever you want. Here's Mokuba.

Adriana waited before tapping her fingers on the desk again. She didn't exactly want to dive right into teaching another person right now, she did after all just move into another household, she wasn't so sure she was ready to go back to doing her old job again.

Mokuba took the phone that Doctor Sage had offered to him and hesitantly spoke into the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Mokuba?" Adriana asked as she heard the boy hum as a reply, "Oh, hi Mokuba! I'm Adriana-"

"Can you help my brother out?" Mokuba asked abruptly, "I know he won't like the idea of having someone helping him and all… but will you do it?"

"I probably can, but I need your help," Adriana answered calmly, "You see… I don't exactly want him to know I'm blind… and that I'm in a wheelchair-"

"But then… how are you going to teach my brother all these things if you can't see? No offense or anything-"

"None taken," Adriana quickly dismissed Mokuba's awkwardness, "Trust me, even though I'm blind, I can still help people out. Because unlike some helper with sight… I can actually understand what your brother will be going through… because I went through it too. I just don't want him to know yet because I want him to figure that out on his own… because then I'll know if he's really using his blindness as an advantage, not as a weakness."

"Sure, no problem," Mokuba said quickly, though not at all understanding what she meant by this.

"I know you're confused, but you'll see in time what I mean," Adriana said sensing the confusion in his voice.

"Ok, but I don't think you're going to have many problems at our house, even though it's pretty big…and we have an elevator. But if you'd rather not use it, we've got a small guest room downstairs, so you won't be stranded on the couch or anything! And I'll even give you the tour tonight if you want!" Mokuba said excitedly, "Are you going to stay with us at the mansion? Because you're more than welcome to!"

"Well-"

"Please," Mokuba pleaded, "I don't want to loose my brother… and maybe having you around the house to help him out will help him a lot… please?"

It was hard for Adriana to deny this offer. She could feel the desperateness in little Mokuba's voice, but on the other hand, people she barely even knew had just adopted her. Sure, she wanted to get used to her new life, but on the other hand, who could possibly reject someone in need?

"Well," Adriana paused deciding on her final decision, "All right, if you can give me the tour tonight, I think I can get to know your place well enough so it would seem like I could see it perfectly to your brother."

"Oh, ok. Well, I don't think we're going to be staying at the hospital too much longer, so we'll pick you up in an hour once we're finished up. I'll give you the tour once Seto is settled in, I think he'll want to check on his company and stuff," Mokuba explained.

"That sounds good to me, I'll see you in an hour. Bye"

The other line clicked off as Adriana sighed and stretched in her wheelchair. It was one of those strange moments when something seemingly small happens… but you know that you're in for an adventure… that everything is about to change. Whether everything changes for the good or for the bad, you have no idea.

The only thing Adriana knew now was that her seat belt was strapped, the safety checks were done, and now… she was heading up to the top of the roller coaster to begin her journey with a new student.

**Whoa. Good luck on that roller coaster Adriana… just… don't fall outta your seat. That'd be… kind of bad. All right… onto reviews!**

**dangerousgirl: I know, Kaiba IS so mean... but he has his moments. Like sometimes he's semi sweet, but then goes back into jerk mode... must get tiring... being in jerk mode 23/7. But yeah, I'm glad you think I kept him in character... that was one of my goals for this fic... because really he is a hard character to like... you know... potray. It's just so much easier to change his personality and be done with it.  
But... I always do things the hard way... so yeah...**

**Double Kodachi: Yeah that was kind of sad... I can be so mean to the characters I love... but whatever. Ok, I'll admit that wasn't kind of sad... it was sad. My mom was actually in a car accident similar to Kaiba's... only a lot less intense. So that's where I got a lot of my inspiration from to write that scene I suppose.**

**Reader: Ahh, you're not just one more reviewer... besides, I love reading them (man... I overuse that line too much...) and replying to them (geeze... I need new sayings or somethin) And yeah, I'll be updating this quite frequently, so unless I'm overloaded with homework, or I have the urge to go write something else for a couple of days, then you guys should get at least an update every two or three days, or even every day during weekends. Sometimes I have a really erratic writing schedule, but whatever works I suppose!**

**The-Kaiba-Heir: LOL! You don't have to bribe me... I'll get it up faster than three or four days. But it's so hard to imagine... TTS in someone's favorite's section... gets amazed... look snaps back to reality... That would be the amazement of the world. You know... I was kind of freaked to post it here, because there are a lot of talented writers out on this sight and I was kind of afraid that you know... people would think my writing sucked. So thanks for your wonderful review... **

**And thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed bows you guys are just... sniff.. just so awesome...have a Seto plushie... with rude talking action! ENJOY!**


	4. First Meetings

**EDITED: This chapter is modified from the original post. **

**Disclaimer: Never owned it, never will. **

**Chapter Four: First meetings **

"Hey Seto."

Silences following a greeting are often awkward, and this one seemed rather strange to Mokuba. At their house, he was accustomed to lengthy periods where his brother would speak to him very little and they would both do their own separate things. But it was a comfortable relaxing silence, quite unlike this one.

"Seto?"

"What? Sorry," Kaiba said quickly as if he was startled by Mokuba's voice.

"It's ok, how are you feeling?" Mokuba questioned as Kaiba responded with a shrug. However Mokuba was looking for a more vocal answer, "Better?"

"Yeah."

"That's great! I guess… I could fill you in on some stuff… then. Is that ok or do want to wait till you're more awake?" Mokuba asked as Kaiba forced a grin.

"I'm fine, Mokuba. Fill me in."

"Ok…" Mokuba paused for a second to collect his thoughts, "Well the police have started an investigation on the crash-"

"What's there to investigate? Two idiots rammed into my limousine when I was going through a green light. It doesn't take a nuclear scientist to figure out what happened," Kaiba said gruffly as Mokuba swallowed.

"Well a lot. I mean if they crashed into us by accident, then why did they commit suicide afterwards?"

"Both the drivers killed themselves?" Kaiba heard Mokuba swallow loudly and let out a choked answer.

"Yeah…"

It suddenly dawned on Kaiba, "You didn't… see them did you?"

"…Kinda."

"You ok?"

"I guess." The answer was too hesitant to satisfy Kaiba, it didn't take a lie detector to figure out whether Mokuba's reply was entirely truthful or not.

Kaiba knew something was off earlier with Mokuba's behavior, and suddenly he realized the cause of it. Seeing someone who had killed themselves was not an easy image to erase, nor was it an easy thing to deal with. As strong as Mokuba was, Kaiba knew that he was probably having nightmares over it.

"It's ok, kid," Kaiba reached out to ruffle Mokuba's hair, but missed his head. Mokuba moved his head a little to the right so Kaiba could mess up his hair, "you don't have to lie. Come here."

The child edged a little closer to Kaiba, who removed his hand from Mokuba's head and pulled him into a tight hug. He could feel Mokuba shaking underneath his arms, and he knew Mokuba was close to crying.

"There's more stuff… that I need to fill you in on," Mokuba changed the subject, "But… I don't know how to-"

"Explain it?" finished Kaiba as Mokuba shook his head and gripped his brother tightly, "Mokuba, what's the matter? Was there something else you saw at the crash?"

"No… it's not that. Well… sort of. Remember when the windshield shattered?"

"Yes, but what's that got to do with-" Kaiba began.

"Everything. The doctors removed the glass and stitched up your eyes and everything but…" Mokuba broke off, unable to finish his sentence.

Kaiba felt his insides freeze up as Mokuba began to cry, "What's the problem?"

"You won't be able to see when Doctor Sage takes off those bandages!" Mokuba cried out, as he felt the arms wrapped around him tense up. "The doctors tried to fix your eyes but there wasn't anything they could do. I'm sorry…" Mokuba held his brother even tighter, allowing the tears to fall onto Kaiba's shirt. He had to strain his ears to hear the last part. "I'm so sorry, Seto. We'll… we'll be ok. We can get someone to help- "

"I don't need help, Mokuba," Kaiba said coldly, masking away his shock and fear, "I'll be fine."

"But-"

"No," Kaiba interrupted, "I don't need it, and I'm not wasting my money on hiring someone for something I don't need."

"Can we at least meet the girl? I talked to Doctor Sage for a while… and he let me talk to this girl over the phone and she's helped other people who were blind before. Doctor Sage recommended her, and maybe if you just met her, you would change your mind. Maybe she could help you, and she seems really nice-"

"Mokuba, my decision is final," Kaiba said slowly getting out of bed and feeling the edges warily, "I don't want the help. We're going home."

"But-"

"Just go get the doctor, we're leaving."

"Ok, I'll be right back," Mokuba said haltingly as he started to walk towards the door, only to find Doctor Sage was leaning in the doorway with a grim expression on his face.

"No need to come look for me, I'm here," Doctor Sage said as he walked towards Kaiba. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kaiba," Dr. Sage said calmly, a hint of worry and strain in his voice, "I heard a little rumor that you wanted to leave the hospital."

"Yes, and I'm sure you heard that rumor by standing in the doorway to listen to our little chat," Kaiba answered promptly.

"I see you're feeling better, I assume you want those bandages removed as well, right?"

"The answer to that question should be obvious. Now will you quit babbling and get on with it?" Kaiba grumbled as Dr. Sage nodded.

"Of course, this won't hurt a bit," Dr. Sage, whispered as he slid the scissors under the bandages and snipped off the wrappings. Mokuba watched as Kaiba waited for a moment before turning towards the doctor, his eyes still closed.

"Didn't you put stitches on my eyes?" Kaiba snapped as the doctor's knuckles whitened.

"At one point but they're gone now… they weren't permanent and they dissolved into the skin, you should have no trouble opening your eyes," Dr. Sage said bracing himself.

Kaiba gave a short nod as his eyelids slowly cracked open. He was hoping to find that Mokuba was wrong and he would be able to see the bright florescent hospital lights instead of the constant black colors that clouded his vision. Realizing no light was coming into his eyes, he opened them a little further, about half way. Still nothing. After blinking a few times, he opened his eyes to the full extent causing Mokuba to choke back a cry. Kaiba's eyes were not the eyes he had recalled, they were still cold and fiery, but they were glazed over by a foggy covering giving his blue eyes a dull silver tint.

"I'm afraid, we were unable to restore your eyes-"

"I noticed that," Kaiba said roughly before sitting up. "Now will you let me leave?"

"I have to do a check up before I release you, and a parent or guardian has to sign you out. Or…" Doctor Sage stopped awkwardly as Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"In this country, I am considered an adult, therefore quite capable of leaving a hospital without parental consent. Finish up your examination and discharge me," Kaiba ordered, making the doctor bristle slightly.

"I do not take orders from my patients, Mr. Kaiba," Doctor Sage commented airily, grabbing a stethoscope to begin the examination.

After a couple of minutes, the examination was complete, Kaiba was discharged from the hospital. Though Kaiba had informed Doctor Sage that he had his own medical staff that could take care of him, the doctor had his doubts that the CEO would really call the staff for medical support.

However it did take the Kaiba brothers more time to actually leave the hospital than the examination. This was mostly due to Kaiba's reluctance and refusal to be put into a wheelchair until he reached the limo. Mokuba spent a good twenty minutes arguing with his brother until he finally relented and allowed his brother to guide him out the door by hanging onto his hand.

The ride in the limo settled down to the calming silence that Mokuba was used to around the house, but he could tell that both he and his brother were still a little tense. Though Kaiba hardly showed it on his face, Mokuba could tell that his brother was devastated over his lost sight.

There was an emptiness in his eyes that was not because of the new color that clouded over his sapphire orbs. He also seemed to be playing around with his hands like he often did when he did not have pen and he was nervous or concerned about something. The stress lines on his face were nearly invisible to any passerby; in fact if anyone were to walk by and look at him, they would never suspect something was wrong. Mokuba had years of experience seeking out these symptoms of fear and overwork, and wanted dearly to hug his brother and comfort him.

The trouble was that he did not know how. Every time he tried to hug his brother to console him, Kaiba would only withdraw and act like everything was all right. When he tried asking if there was a problem, Kaiba would merely shrug and say that he had none and just needed to get some work done.

But that wasn't the only thing that Mokuba was worried about. Kaiba was a smart man, and while Mokuba had learned how to find little signs that indicated a problem with his brother, he was also learning how to conceal them. Nowadays, Mokuba was finding hard to read his brother like he used to, but in that moment in the car, Mokuba could tell without even trying that his brother was scared.

However, Kaiba would never admit that he was ever afraid.

The limo came to a sudden stop, parking just outside an apartment complex. The neighborhood was not at all what Mokuba was expecting; just by looking around he could tell he was in the slums of Domino city. The buildings were dirtier and more beat up than the average shop in the middle of the city and the graffiti on the side of the apartment building only made Mokuba even more uncomfortable.

"I'll be right back, I need to pick up my homework in the office," Mokuba lied as he opened the door and stepped out, "Stay here."

Before Kaiba could get a chance to protest, the door was closed and Mokuba was all ready making his way up the front door, gingerly stepping over the shattered glass from a beer bottle that had been forcefully cast into the door. Just as his hand brushed against the metal door handle, other door to the left of him opened up to reveal a teenage girl in a wheelchair.

"Adriana?"

"Ahh, you must be Mokuba," the girl said with a warm smile, turning towards the sound of Mokuba's voice, "I apologize… I maybe should have warned you… these parts aren't exactly on Domino City's top safety or clean areas."

"No… it's ok."

In all honesty, Mokuba was a little surprised by the girl's appearance; he was really thinking she would look like Serenity Wheeler both in features and clothes. He had pictured the girl to look like how she sounded on the phone, a nice sweet teenage girl who dressed in shades of pink and soft pastel colors. What he got was something completely different. A girl decked in baggy black pants with a tight gray shirt on was sitting before him instead of a Serenity look-alike.

Adriana's hair color was a fake shade of red, looking like it had been cheaply dyed at a unprofessional hair salon, or perhaps her and a friend had decided to dye their hair using over the counter products? It was hard to tell. Her hair was about chin length with two longer pieces framing her face, and that too looked irregularly chopped and uneven.

Her eyes were very strange indeed, almost scary at first, but behind the foggy blue green eyes, Mokuba found they were warm and welcoming, putting him more at ease. Mokuba could see how Adriana could be the girl from the picture in doctor Sage's office; her figure was certainly now more feminine and a lot less lanky now, however if you really looked hard you could see a few resemblances between the two.

"Not what you were expecting, huh? Well I don't really pick out my own clothes, to be honest. I trust my friends enough to buy me decent clothing," Adriana laughed good-naturedly. Mokuba was almost tempted to tell her that her friends needed to pick out clothes that matched her personality better, but resisted thinking that he would sound rude if he said something like that.

"You seem a lot different in person," Mokuba said, finding that the girl's smile was contagious, "More animated I think."

"Thanks, I think," Adriana answered awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. "So are you sure about me staying at your house instead of doing the daily sessions?"

"Yeah," Mokuba said airily, "You can stay with us."

"All right, thanks," Adriana replied, "You do realize that this could take months, though? You'd have to deal with a teenage girl, and add pads onto your grocery list."

Mokuba snorted, "If that's all we have to put up with, I think we'll survive."

"Ahh… yes. I've heard the Kaibas are made of some pretty strong stuff. At least I know it's true now. So what would you like me to do? Pack now or later?" Adriana said lightly.

"Well we're all ready here," Mokuba, said, "Can you grab your stuff?"

"Sure, I've got a lot of it packed up. I never really bothered to unpack from the trip to get here… so it will only take a few minutes. I'll be right back," Adriana promised as she headed back into the building before Mokuba could offer his assistance.

True to her word, Adriana returned with a small black duffle bag with all sorts of pins sequence patterns sown into the fabric. It wasn't until the two hopped into the limousine that Mokuba noticed that she had also carried out a large weathered purse that was made completely out of duck tape.

"Er… Adriana? Do you need help getting into the limo?"

"I can get myself in, just show me the door and I should be all right. What should I do with my bag?"

"I'll take it," Mokuba replied taking the small bag from Adriana's arms. With his free hand, he opened the door for her and watched on with interest. Adriana ran her hands over the seat of the limo slowly before edging a little closer. She turned the wheelchair so it was right beside the seat and made her move.

Firmly, Adriana planted her arms on the hand rests on the wheelchair and shifted her body towards the limo. Quickly, she adjusted her grip and leaned on the opposite hand rest while her other hand grabbed the top of the leather seat tightly as she lifted her body into the air and leaned all of her weight on her left hand before removed her right hand from the wheelchair. It was like clock work, once she began falling into the limo's seat, her right arm scooped up her legs and brought them into the limo while her other hand pushed her body upwards until she had managed to successfully get into the limo.

Mokuba gasped as she fell onto the seat comfortably and grabbed her wheelchair, folded it like it was a lawn chair then proceeded to pull it inside. Mokuba shook his head in amazement as he put her bag in the trunk. Inside, he grinned. If she could get into the limo without sight and the use of her legs, she could most certainly teach Kaiba how to hop into a limo.

As Adriana closed the door and began fumbling with the buckle, Mokuba hopped into the front seat. However, Kaiba was under the impression that Mokuba had just entered the limo with his homework. And was currently occupying the seat next to him.

"What took you so long, kid?" Kaiba questioned as Adriana nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise.

"Uh…"

"Seto, this is Adriana, she's going to be staying with us for a while," Mokuba said as nonchalantly as he could muster under Kaiba's death glare. Fortunately, the glare was toned down a few notches due to the fact that Mokuba was his little brother.

"I thought we agreed that we didn't need help," Kaiba said as Mokuba shrugged.

"Too bad. I never agreed to that."

"Mokuba," there was a warning tone in Kaiba's voice, like a parent reprimanding a child, "I appreciate the offer and everything, but this is no big deal. I can handle it myself."

"You're right. You might be able to," Adriana said, "I'm sure you're a complex individual who can handle just about anything life throws at you, right?"

"I see you're not a complete moron after all," Kaiba responded with an air of smugness in his voice.

"Great, you can show me how well you're teaching yourself when we get to your house. If you can prove to me that you're capable of relearning _everything_ you've _ever_ known without your sight, then I'll take my bag and head home. If not, then it will be a very fun couple of months with ya, Seto," Adriana challenged brightly.

"It's Kaiba to you."

"Fair enough, you accept my challenge then?" Adriana asked as Kaiba snorted.

"What do you think?"

"Great," Adriana grinned and made herself comfortable in the back seat of the limousine. She was rather enjoying the experience of riding in a leather interior limo; the seats were particularly squishy and comfortable, and it was like heaven compared to the springy family car of the Anderson's. It was the very first time she had ever ridden in a limo, and a part of her dearly wished that this wouldn't also be the last.

**ha. ha. ha. haha. HAHA. AHHAHAHA... BWHAHAHA... I'm done now. It's just funny… poor girl has no idea what she's getting into. And again... you guys just continue to rock my world... since I don't have email and I had to use my mom's email account to register... she's been having a blast reading your reviews (I have yet to figure out how to stop this... but that's ok, she just sort of reads them... laughs... and then asks questions.) **

**YamiSeto'sgrl: Ick... I am SOOO sorry that I didn't get this reply up last chapter... I didn't see it until after I had already added the post... bows... FORGIVE ME! And yes, getting glass in your eye, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung, getting cut by glass (on the eye too… OOWW) gosh that must've been... very hurtful... I feel so mean, but it had to be done, in the name of science, or more accurately... the fate of this fic. Ouch... my friend once had to get stitches on her eye cuz she had a paper cut on it and it actually SLICED the eye (ok... I think I'm done... lol)**

**Dangerousgirl: I almost pity poor Adriana... I mean she's completely unprepared! She doesn't have any protective gear whatsoever, or not even like... earplugs to block out his insults. And judging by the way Kaiba acted when he had a tiny little help from Yami in that one double duel in battle city... I think he's going to be pretty mad (I think he really would be all GRAW if this really did happen) and as a side note, I've always admired Mokuba and Kaiba/Seto's relationship. Because they're so close, even though a lot of bad things have happened to them, they stuck it though and developed this really strong sibling bond. And they both protect each other and would die for each other as well... it's the kind of relationship I've always wanted with my sister. But... well obviously I don't have that. But that's ok... as long as we're on speaking terms most of the time... I'm pretty content.**

**The-Kaiba-Heir: Thank you so much for adding me on your favorites list... it's an honor to be on there. I've always been like really shy and all quiet... and freaked out to go join new web sights and new chat boards and such. Like take deviant art for example... it's a spectacular fan art place and I love drawing just like I love writing (eh... comic booking in my future? who knows? Not me!) And it took me three months to get an account, but then I didn't do anything with it because I see all the other computer colored and animated works, and all I've got is pencil shading. So yeah... I know I shouldn't feel that way, but maybe it's just part of my nature... to be timid like that... ya know?**

**Double Kodachi: Lol! I love plushies... you can never get enough plushies... that's why I sometimes "give" them out to people online (not literally, just sort of like announce that everyone gets a plushie...) they're so addicting. I really want to go find a Yugi and Kaiba plushie, and get a Yami/Atemu plushie **

**And speaking of Atemu... has anyone actually seen the Egyptian episodes (in Japanese)... Atemu not only sounds Mexican... but he looks... ADORABLE in his little Egyptian clothes... and as hot as any anime character can possibly be. Did anyone hear about how Shonen Jump Magazine next issue is going to be cranking out the YGO Egyptian arc in the manga? If you don't get the magazine... you defiantly should get it... because when Yugi and Yami go into memory world to get Atemu's memories back... it is SOO WORTH IT! And besides, if you wait until the comic books come out, you would have to wait a REALLY long time, because I think you would have to wait like... almost a year for them to get to the Egyptian comics.**

**So in short... I recommend getting subscribed to Shonen Jump if anyone is interested in reading the YGO comics.**

**Whoops... got a little off track there... (By the way, this info is for us American fans out there... I dunno any news for any of you guys from other countries... sorry!) Moving back... please review... you'll make this teen laugh and smile again... hehe. **

**Don't be shy... you can do it! Just... click the little button... drop a note... and presto! You have a review fit for a king! (Ok, I'm getting carried away... I'm stopping now before I get any worse.)**

**See you guys either tomorrow or Wednesday!**


	5. Serious Talks

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for my own.**

**It's been years since I last updated this piece, and I've had a number of excuses to not update. I stopped simply because I wasn't driven anymore to do so. I wasn't feeling the passion anymore. I didn't until a couple of months ago. Today, I viewed this story with fresh eyes. While I wish I could change what I've posted once again, I've decided to leave it alone, and let my newly edited writing grow and improve itself from here on out. Hopefully, new and old readers can enjoy this piece, and I hope this renewed passion sticks around long enough for me to finish like I always intended to.**

**Thank you everyone, for reading and showing your avid support for this piece, and I hope I don't let you guys down again. **

**And now without further a due… chapter five. **

As the limo pulled up to the front of the house, the driver tipped his hat slightly. The house was a glorious thing to behold, and it was unfortunate that only half the people in the limousine could see the beautiful white house lined with freshly painted blue shudders. The grass was shaved to perfection, and each of the bloated bushes lining the walkway seemed content, stretching its large leaves out to soak in the sun's rays. Mokuba and Adriana got out of the car, leaving Kaiba sitting inside.

"You're sitting on the right side of the limo," Adriana spoke up, "I'm pretty sure your driver pulled up to your house the same way he usually does. I want you to walk to the front door, unlock your house, go into kitchen and grab a can of chicken soup. After that I want you to go to the family room, to Mokuba's bedroom, and then back to your room. If we have to bail you out and help you to a room, or if you fail to get into a room, then I stay. Prove me wrong, then you can brag and gloat all you want and I'll get out of your hair for good," she promised, hoping that the layout she had just described would prove to be a worthy challenge. Without any previous knowledge about the house, she was had no idea if she had just instructed Kaiba to walk in a straight line through his house or to go up and down a flight of stairs three or four times.

"And just how am I supposed to tell the soups apart?" Kaiba asked irritably.

"It's a can, I won't count it against you if you bring me the wrong one. It's extra credit though," Adriana grinned. "I doubt you'll even get to the point where you have to figure out the difference between chicken soup and a can of corn."

With a note of vengeance, Kaiba rushed out of the limousine and slammed the door. However, beyond that display there was nothing left to impress upon Adriana the seriousness that he took in completing his task. Awkwardly, he inched his way forward, feeling naked and stripped, as though he were missing something vitally important.

From the start, Mokuba knew his brother was going to fail the challenge. Kaiba seemed to be lost and slightly disoriented. His feet shuffled awkwardly as though he was certain he was going to run into something; he just didn't know what or when it would happen. With flailing arms, Kaiba managed to get around the limo and his search for the curb began.

It was frustrating for Kaiba, to think that the curb was just inches from his feet, but he never seemed to reach it. When his foot clipped the curb, it sent a jolt of surprise through his veins. He found himself trying to open his eyes, despite the fact that they were all ready struggling to see what was in front of him. In his mind he knew that he was blind, but he was too used to seeing, stuck in the habit of blinking to focus on an object.

Kaiba stepped over the curb and straightened himself out before taking a few more hesitant steps. A loud crunching sound alerted him that he was stepping on a bunch of leaves, and the ground beneath him was softer and his feet no longer made a clipping sound. He was off the pavement and onto the front lawn.

Reasoning that he could just turn back around and get back on the path, Kaiba uncoordinatedly walked towards the sidewalk with little success. Unfortunately, the simple fact that he had bushes planted along the sidewalk had left Kaiba's mental image of his destination. There was a loud rustle and several crunching noises as the bush was brutally stomped and flattened, however that was not the only thing that had taken on a deflated appearance as well. Kaiba tripped and fell into the bush.

"You all right?" Adriana asked cautiously as Kaiba stood up and brushed himself off.

"Mokuba, remind me tell the gardeners to remove those bushes at once," Kaiba ignored Adriana's comment.

"Kaiba, I think we should just call it quits, I think I've… seen enough," Adriana said, "Just let me help."

"I'm not asking you for help."

"You don't have to. I'm volunteering," Adriana took a deep breath before speaking again. "I want you to be able to go out in public, and walk with confidence, because you have a lot of pride. You should still have the ability to show it off."

"I can figure this out by myself," Kaiba lashed back a little louder than he intended.

"Of course you can! But that will take longer, this is a good shortcut to take, and I don't cut corners," Adriana suppressed the pleading note that threatened to shake in her voice. "Don't you want to be up and running as soon as possible?"

"Of course! What kind of question—?"

"Ok. I don't want you see this as a low blow because it's not supposed to be intended to be as one… but it's not just for your benefit. Your brother is acting beyond his years, but he can't take care of you while you're trying to figure out how to live life normally. He can do a lot… but neither of you two make great Supermen. So… just let me help. For Mokuba. I swear it'll be worth it, and I will be out of your life as soon as soon as you've mastered the challenges I throw at you. Deal?"

Everyone could feel the tension rising in the air. Mokuba could feel his heart crashing against his chest in anticipation of his brother's reply. For a moment, it looked as though Kaiba was going to demand that Adriana walk home and to leave him and Mokuba alone. However, what came out of the C.E.O's mouth surprised everyone, including the driver who was eavesdropping intently.

"Don't get too comfortable here," Kaiba conceded flatly, no more fight left in him to pursue the matter.

"I won't even unpack," Adriana swore softly.

There wasn't anything else that needed to be said. The passive silence that followed after the mutual agreement was broken when the limo pulled away from the house, knowing there was not going to be anymore exciting gossip to overhear.

Mokuba took his brother's arm and led him towards the front door. He turned out to be a good guide, warning Kaiba where each step was, and forcing Kaiba to walk at a normal speed. A sheepish cough from behind the Kaiba brothers alerted Mokuba to a potential problem.

Kaiba mansion was not the most handicap accessible house in the world, and it certainly did not contain an easy ramp for her to wheel up to the front of the house. There was no way she could get in through the front entrance because of the stairs. Mokuba thought quickly to find a solution that would not sound bad to his brother.

"Adriana… do you… like gardening?" Mokuba asked haltingly.

"I do actually. My mom did a lot of gardening when I was younger," Adriana answered promptly, picking up on Mokuba's hint, "Do you have good landscaping here?"

"Yeah! Do you want to check the backyard out? Its got a really nice view-"

"And I love the smell of gardens," Adriana added with a note of wonder, "Do me a favor though and come back out in a few minutes. I'd like to see the front first."

"You're not here to sight see," Kaiba grumbled irritably.

"I know," Adriana answered casually, "But I know you'd probably like to settle in, so let me sight see for a bit. See you in a few minutes, Mokuba."

"Ok… let's go Seto," Mokuba lightly tugged on his brother's arm to lead him into the house. Kaiba glanced back futilely, in a small gesture of gratitude.

The door shut with a soft click, leaving Adriana completely alone. It was in that moment that she was able to fully absorb her surroundings and breathe in the surprisingly clearer air. Domino City had a natural gasoline and cigarette odor that could not be avoided simply because it was a city. It was busy city with thousands of commuters coming in from either gang-ridden or wealthy suburbs. And the scents of trees and lush rosebushes around her seemed to mask the city stench.

A cold wind from the north made her short hair fly out of her face, and with it came a fresh sent of oak trees that stood proudly across the street from Kaiba's house. It was a delicious scent; however the coldness that bit her arms made her dearly wish that she had put on a sweater before leaving the apartment.

Adriana jumped and unleashed a startled gasp as her cell phone vibrated, indicating that there was an incoming call. She quickly dug through the contents of her purse and picked up the pulsing piece of metal.

"Hello?" Adriana chimed into the mouthpiece.

"I see you."

At that sentence, Adriana's heart stopped from the chilling familiarity of the voice on the other line.

"You have this place wired?" Adriana felt the hair rise on the back of her neck.

"I have connections that run deep in the corporate world. Every camera in this estate serves as my eyes and ears. They have poor security, even though they've got about two hundred cameras. I told you that my empire would have access to places like where you sit," the calm collected voice responded as Adriana's grip on the phone tightened.

"I never had any doubts that you would," Adriana said trying to sound nonchalant to mask the fear that was starting to make an appearance on her facial expression.

"You look afraid," there was disappointment in the man's voice as he said this, as though he was hoping for a more positive reaction.

"I'm fine," Adriana replied curtly hoping that those words dispelled any anxiety in her face.

"If you say so, Storm."

"I go by Adriana nowadays," she corrected sharply.

"Yes of course. I heard little Mokuba say it earlier," the voice chuckled warmly, and would've sounded attractive in another time and place.

"Why do you have connections here?"

"Why do you think?" the man's voice was casual, but there was a note of severity resounding in his voice.

"You're not-" Adriana stopped and swallowed hard.

"I have the place wired. You know I'll hear everything if you so much as breathe a word of warning. Get in the way, and I will not show mercy to you, despite our… old ties."

"You shot me. I don't have any more ties with you," Adriana laughed, both out of the stupidity of the man's statement and nervousness.

"I thought you had gotten over that-"

"You could not expect me to get over something so-" Adriana felt a shudder run through her body. She could not complete her sentence.

"I do. It's been years, sweetheart-"

"Don't call me that," Adriana's voice tickled the upper regions of a shout, "How did you get this number?"

"I told you, I have deep connections within the corporate world," the man's voice seemed to smile as he said this.

"Why did you call? Thought you'd check in?"

"You are the closest to our target."

"I won't help you," Adriana said with firm resolute.

"Really now?"

"No. I won't," Adriana said as the video camera became acquainted with her middle finger.

"That was not nice. All I'm asking for is a little inside assistance, and believe me that little assistance will give you everything you'll ever want. College, a mansion, the ability to walk, the gift of sight… these are treasures that no one else in my position would ever offer you. But you and I go far back. And for that I'm willing to over look that little mishap you had and make this generous offer-"

"My answer will remain the same. I'm done with you," Adriana's voice hardened into steel, "You will not call this number again."

"We'll see."

"No. You will not, or else I'll send your empire crashing down to the hell-" Adriana's voice ventured to a shout, but before it could develop into something more powerful, the man cut in.

"Dear, you can only make those kinds of threats if you hold all of the cards."

"You have a good hand then?" Adriana slowly pieced together the gravity of the situation.

"An excellent hand. So you chose not to help?" the man inquired.

"I believe that's what no means in this case."

"Ahh, how unfortunate that you still cling onto your stubbornness. I wonder how the older will react when the whelp gets a little surprise in his morning drink-"

"You will not lay a finger on Mokuba-" Adriana fired back, knowing that her threats were completely useless.

"What a short memory you have! I hold the cards, not you. I'm not touching the boy-"

"But your shadow sure as hell does."

"Ah, what a cliché reference-"

"Shut up. This conversation is over," screamed Adriana hysteria and anger flooding her senses.

"I wouldn't do that if I was-"

A loud click ended the call.

The battle to remain calm raged within Adriana, though panic had the upper hand. She understood that this job was going to be hard. She could deal with normal difficultness, but this...

The elevator doors chimed open as Kaiba stormed out of the elevator and walked straight into the wall with a loud growl. Mokuba flinched as Kaiba blindly tried to kick the wall, but missed it by a good two feet. Before anyone could say another word, Kaiba stomped into Mokuba's bedroom mistaking it for his own, and slammed the door.

Mokuba opened his mouth to call out to Kaiba, but closed his mouth. He thought Adriana was wise to give his brother alone time, and he would follow suit. Instead of going into the bedroom, he thundered down the stairs and decided to help Adriana map out the house.

But tears welled up in his eyes.

Mokuba stunned by his actions; he had been perfectly fine earlier. But now that he was alone, tears were running down his face, his control slipping away.

"Seto…" Mokuba choked back a sob as fiercely wiped away the tears and sniffed. He wanted to be useful now, and he couldn't afford to start crying yet. If he did, he wasn't sure when he would stop, and he couldn't leave Adriana outside.

Mokuba found Adriana exactly where he had left her, and led her to the side of the house where a cement walkway curled up to a back entrance near the patio. After she was inside, Mokuba showed Adriana around the house and helped her settle into her new bedroom. She learned the way of the house much faster than he anticipated, and within an hour, she was maneuvering her way around the house with confidence. Through the tour, he was surprised to find that she was a very receptive person, and he felt genuinely comfortable sharing his private feelings. When the tour was finished, led her into Kaiba's bedroom to talk, since his brother had not emerged from Mokuba's room.

"You and your brother seem to be very close," Adriana commented idly, hoping to keep her mind on them rather than her own concerns. She managed to hide any traces of the conversation from Mokuba and she hoped, at least for the time being, she could keep it that way.

"Yeah, we've been through a lot together. He's always been my hero even when I was little," Mokuba felt his throat tighten, and he struggled to keep talking. "I… I'm not sure what to do now though."

Mokuba opened the locket he wore so often around his neck. The school did not allow students to wear any jewelry aside from their school uniform, but he always managed to hide it under his jacket from his teacher's sight. Mokuba's lips twitched into a small smile as he stared at Kaiba's young boyish face. It was one of the only photographs Mokuba had of his brother showing a true smile.

How Mokuba wished he could hear his brother laugh like he used to, play with Mokuba, and even smile just like he did when they were kids.

Adriana leaned forward out of her chair to ruffle Mokuba's hair, "I know how difficult it must be. Responsibility seems to have been thrust onto you."

"I need to be strong for him," Mokuba let the tears fall, knowing that Adriana wouldn't be able to see them anyway, "I need to not worry him with my own problems anymore-"

"He wouldn't want you thinking that he's weak or that can't be the older brother he is just because he can't see," Adriana tried her best to comfort the boy. "You have a good relationship with him, so keep that in tact. The less change he has to deal with the better."

Mokuba's breath hitched, but he held back once again. Adriana kept quiet, feeling that he just needed to vent, "He hasn't been really happy since we were adopted. I've been trying so hard to make him happy, like when we were little. I was… close too. I don't know if I'll be able to get him happy like that now…"

Suddenly, Mokuba stopped himself, and just as Adriana was going to comment, Mokuba's fist clenched into a ball and he plunged into an entirely new train of thought.

"Big brother was always there for me; he never let me down. I think it's my turn to be there for him. I want to help him, see him smile again," Mokuba released a pent up sob, "Eventually. I'll be strong for him… I... I just gotta!"

Doing the best she could to consol Mokuba, Adriana placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. The sobs rolled out of Mokuba's chest, threatening to overtake him. Adriana didn't remove her hand until his crying abated to quiet sniffling and easier breathing.

"You two are going to be just fine," Adriana said with a small laugh. "You're acting so grown up, and that's huge. I barely know you, and I'm all ready feeling a bit proud of you."

Mokuba felt a pink flush rise to his cheeks at the complements, "Thanks."

After a moment's silence, Mokuba felt the urge to drive the attention away from him. His eyes traveled across the simple white room, absorbing the mountains of electronics resting on his nightstand, a tell tale sign that though Kaiba was the owner of a multi-billion dollar company, his brother was first and foremost a teenager in high school. Gadgets like music players, Nintendo game sets, and expensive cameras were just some of the items within an arm's length away from the nightstand. In addition, a thick leather bound book rested on top of the alarm clock, facing downwards so the spine was starting at the sculpted ceiling.

"I haven't been in Seto's room in a while. I forgot he likes to read before going to bed," Mokuba remarked idly, reaching over to grab the book. "How's he going to read textbooks for school?"

"Well, he can hire someone to read him charts or things for work, or he can use an audio program and use voice command to write and read his reports," Adriana explained as though she had rehearsed the speech a thousand times before. "I will be teaching him how to read Braille—"

"He knows how, Gozoburo hired someone to teach him a lot of different languages, and he taught him how to read and write in Braille," Mokuba interrupted.

"Well that makes things a little easier," Adriana replied, the surprise apparent in her voice. "I know someone who can translate books from script to Braille in a matter of days. I can give him the number and she can translate any book he wants. She is expensive though."

"I don't think that's much of an issue," Mokuba answered as he opened up the book. His eyes widened slightly as he looked at the page and then he grinned." I found a photo album," Mokuba beamed fondly as he lifted the book and began looking through it.

"Any good pictures?" Adriana asked curiously.

"Yeah…"

Mokuba took in every single detail of the photos, suddenly feeling very privileged for the ability to see the pictures of him and his brother. The one on the open page was a picture taken from an instant develop camera, with Mokuba sticking his fingers in his mouth and sticking out his tongue. The next couple of shots seemed to happen a couple seconds afterwards; one of Mokuba's hand reaching out to grab the camera, the other one an impossibly close picture of Mokuba's furious gray eyeball. A laugh spilled forward out of his mouth, and Adriana basked in Mokuba's delight like a parched flower that had taken its very first gulp of water. She wondered what could make the boy laugh like that, and let her imagination take over.

"I didn't know he had something like this," Mokuba whispered with emotion. "It's got a lot of pictures of us as kids… some with mom and dad. He's going to miss this…"

"I bet," Adriana agreed, feeling suddenly out of place. She decided to let Mokuba look at the personal pictures privately. "I think I'm going to go to my room and read for a while. Come on in if you want to talk or anything."

"Ok, thanks a lot, you've been a great help already," Mokuba confessed awkwardly.

"No problem," Adriana backed up the wheelchair and barely managed to get through the door.

Adriana started pushing herself down the hall, aware of the sound of rubber scraping against the soft carpeting. Once Kaiba's hearing became more attuned, there would be no hiding her disability, however, there was still time before that would happen. She had never been inside such a richly furbished home before, and her mind couldn't even produce images of the possibility where she could be. Suddenly, her hearing seemed to wander and drift into the room to the right of her, where Kaiba was.

Adriana paused for a moment listening to the on goings in the room. Inside, Kaiba fingered the locket hanging around his neck with soft easy strokes. Her ears perked up at the sound of Kaiba gliding his pale fingers over the locket frame and the picture of Mokuba.

Adriana felt her heart melt as she listened intently to what Kaiba was doing in his bedroom, which wasn't much. Adriana could practically feel Kaiba's worry as his strokes on the locket became harsher and tenser. Kaiba was at least good at one thing, keeping his thoughts to himself. He did not utter a single word, making it impossible to understand what he was thinking. But his fingers caressing the frame had a pattern; a rhythmical beat, flowing like music that soothed Adriana.

Abruptly, the strokes stopped as he sucked in a sharp breath and searched around for a pillow. When he was unable to locate a pillow, Kaiba slammed his fist into the bed and let out a growl- no…

Adriana swallowed hard as Kaiba began punching the bed vigorously, almost as though he was trying to kill someone who had just hurt his brother. But that wasn't the only thing he was doing…

'_He's… crying…'_ Adriana realized as the punches became more intense, and he let out another snarl, before choking on a sob.

Kaiba threw one last punch into the bed before falling into it and began crying into the sheets. Adriana's heart broke at the sound of Kaiba's weeping… it sounded a wounded deer, unable to make full fledged cries of agony, only silent whimpers, sharp intakes of breath, and despite his inability to make his pain audible, heavy tears were rolling down his cheeks.

And yet she didn't enter the room to offer comfort. She knew if she entered, he would just shove her off, push her away before she could say anything.

He couldn't stop the tears from trickling down his cheeks. He couldn't even remember the last time he cried this hard. Kaiba felt like something precious had been stolen away from him… something he had never taken the time to appreciate, or even care about. He just had sight; he never gave a single thought to what his life would be without it.

And here he was now, unable to see any light or beauty, his eyes shrouded in darkness. He really wished he could just blink a few times, and then he would magically be able to see his brother standing next to him, smiling that sweet smile Mokuba always saved specially for him.

Mokuba…

The very thought of his brother made Kaiba's heart clench. He wondered how Mokuba was coping with his blindness. Would his little brother still look to him for strength? Or would pity shroud and prevent him from talking to Kaiba?

'_But I can't let this get in my way…I can get my sight back. There has to be a way…"_

Kaiba froze as his jaw dropped. How convenient… the very thing that could have helped Kaiba regain his sight, was in the hands of the very person he scorned and rejected. He let out a hollow laugh, out the sheer irony of the situation.

'_But I don't need Mr. Andersen. I have Mokuba, there's nothing else I need. There has to be a way, Mokuba… I have to get my sight back for you; you can still depend on me. I promise,' _Kaiba thought to himself as his grip on the locket tightened.

After a while, Kaiba's sobs had finally stopped, and Adriana retreated to her room for a couple hours before returning and giving a quiet tap on the door.

"Kaiba?" Adriana called through the door timidly, feeling rather reluctant to disrupt his train of thought. He seemed to have calmed down, at least it sounded like he wasn't crying anymore.

Kaiba seemed to snap out of his trance and flew his head wildly around the room, trying to pinpoint her position.

"Sorry for bothering you," Adriana said quickly opening the door a little bit. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine," Kaiba said shortly, straightening up in the bed. Adriana certainly wouldn't have believed that Kaiba had just been crying his eyes out a few short hours ago. "Why didn't Mokuba tell me I was in his room?"

"Well, he figured you probably wanted some alone time," Adriana shrugged as she wheeled closer to his bed. When he didn't offer up a reply, Adriana continued, "It's been a hard day, so I think I'll let you relax for tonight and we can start working together tomorrow—"

"No," Kaiba said unexpectedly. Adriana her eyebrows leap off of her forehead in surprise. "We start tonight."

"Well I wanted to talk to you about some of the software changes you may have to make so you can get back to work--"

"I can take care of that myself. I all ready have an idea of what I want to do," Kaiba interrupted. "I don't need your help."

Adriana seemed taken aback, but recovered quickly enough, "Well I have a couple of things that might be of some use to you."

"We can talk after we finish whatever lesson you want me to work on tomorrow," Kaiba answered tersely, starting to loose his patience. "I'm a very busy man, and I want to get this out of the way so you can leave. Be aware, if I'm not satisfied with your lessons then I'll figure it out on my own."

"Well, I swear I can match your high and mighty standards," Adriana said assertively as a familiar smirk crept over Kaiba's lips.

"Really now? You have quite a bark, but do you have the bite to go with it?" Kaiba questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, if you're not satisfied with the first lesson-"

"You'll leave the premises immediately?" Kaiba said as Adriana stopped.

"I was going to suggest something more interesting but… why not? We can do that. Just give me some time to set up."


End file.
